Improving Health Outcomes Through Investigations of Wabanaki Food Systems in Maine

NCT07561593 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: OT2OD035832
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 500
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

Wabanaki ancestral lands historically provided abundant resources, allowing Wabanaki people to rely exclusively on hunting, fishing, and gathering for all their subsistence needs. However, as their sacred hunting and fishing grounds were lost to colonization, the Wabanaki people lost access to their traditional foods, which has had devastating impacts on the communities' health and well-being. Without access to traditional foods like fiddleheads, corn, beans, squash, wild rice, fish, and many others, the Wabanaki people experienced a surge in many nutrition-related health problems, such as diabetes, obesity, and heart-disease, which have only increased exponentially with time. This Community Research Project (CRP) seeks to improve these health outcomes for Wabanaki people by upscaling the Wabanaki Mobile Food Pantry (WMFP), an existing program that delivers fresh and traditional foods to the Tribal communities. The CRP is grounded in the understanding that food sovereignty is fundamental to achieving and sustaining the health and well-being of Wabanaki communities. The upscaled WMFP aims to increase community access to fresh, traditional, or locally sourced foods, improve community perceptions of food pantries, support cultural connection, promote sustainable, culturally relevant food systems, and increase Tribal members' knowledge and self-efficacy surrounding the cultivation, preparation, and preservation of traditional foods.

Conditions

Food Insecurity

Keywords

community-led research; food insecurity; social determinants of health; health disparities; nutrition access; food sovereignty; community survey; photovoice

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Food Security Status (Hunger Vital Sign / 6-Item HFSSM Score)

  Food security will be measured using the validated 6-Item USDA Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) included in the Wabanaki Community Survey. The outcome will report food security status categorized according to standard scoring criteria (e.g., high, marginal, low, very low food security) Unit of Measure: Food security category (per HFSSM scoring) This outcome will be used in subsequent analyses examining its correlation with Mobile Food Pantry utilization.

  Baseline (Wabanaki Community Survey pilot period, approximately 3-6 months)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Health-Related Quality of Life (CDC HRQoL Indicators)

  Baseline (during Wabanaki Community Survey data collection period)

Study Arms (1)

Mobile Food Pantry Community Intervention Group

EXPERIMENTAL

Community participants exposed to the upscaled Mobile Food Pantry Intervention

Behavioral: Upscaling the Wabanaki Mobile Food Pantry Program

Interventions

Upscaling the Wabanaki Mobile Food Pantry Program BEHAVIORAL

Community-led expansion of a Mobile Food Pantry program designed to improve access to nutritious and culturally appropriate foods and address food insecurity among Wabanaki communities. Outcomes are evaluated using a pre-post study design.

Mobile Food Pantry Community Intervention Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Adults age 18 years and older
• Members of a Wabanaki community

You may not qualify if:

• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness: lead
• Yale University: collaborator
• Washington State University: collaborator

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 10, 2026
• First Posted: May 1, 2026
• Study Start: May 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2027
• Last Updated: May 1, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share