Southern California Nutrition Incentive Program (SCNIP)

University of California San Diego

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Food Insecurity

Treatments: Other: Financial Incentive: Low; Other: Financial Incentive: High; Other: Financial Incentive: Middle

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; Other U.S. Federal agency

Identifiers

NCT02976389

2016-70025-25247

Details and patient eligibility

About

The specific aims of this proposal are to implement SCNIP in 6 Northgate Gonzalez Markets across San Diego, Orange and LA counties (2 in each county), and determine which level of financial incentive rebate (specifically, $10/month, $20/month, or $40/month) optimally increases the purchase and consumption of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables.

Full description

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) Center for Community Health, in collaboration with Northgate Gonzalez Markets and its regional partners, will implement a Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive program in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties - the Southern California Nutrition Incentive Program (SCNIP). This program will develop, implement and evaluate a multi-tiered model that will enable low-income, SNAP-eligible consumers to make healthier food choices and purchase more fruits and vegetables. This model will include: tier 1) an innovative fruit and vegetable financial incentive rebate program that utilizes the consumer's Northgate Gonzalez Market customer loyalty card, electronic benefit transfer (EBT) card, and electronic wallet (e-wallet); tier 2) fruit and vegetable promotions that include discount pricing; and tier 3) SNAP-Ed programming (e.g., in-store cooking classes, tours, and healthy food self-labeling system) to educate and support the purchasing behaviors of SNAP-eligible families. Through the use of the customer loyalty card, EBT card, and e-wallet, the rebate program will be able to track the purchase of SCNIP eligible fruits and vegetables and provide a rebate at the point-of-sale that can be used to purchase additional fruits and vegetables, thus increasing the purchasing power of SNAP-eligible families for healthy food options. Earned and dispensed rebate dollars will be stored on the e-wallet enabling the tracking of purchasing behaviors and dollars spent on healthy fruits and vegetables in this program. With this data, we will be able to determine what level of financial incentive rebate ($10/month, $20/month, or $40/month) (tier 1) optimally increased SNAP families' per capita spending on fruits and vegetables in conjunction with the fruit and vegetable promotions (tier 2) and nutrition education activities (tier 3).

Enrollment: 3,780 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Northgate Gonzalez Market customer who currently receives SNAP benefits and has a valid EBT card
• 18 years of age or older
• Speaks and reads in English or Spanish
• Shops at the selected Northgate Gonzalez Market regularly, at least two times per month

Exclusion criteria

• Does not receive SNAP benefits
• Unable to complete surveys in English or Spanish
• Another immediate family member living in the same household is already recruited into the study

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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3,780 participants in 3 patient groups

$40/month

Experimental group

Description:

Financial incentives: Participants will be randomized to receive $40/month in incentive dollars for the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. Purchasing behaviors will be tracked.

Treatment:

Other: Financial Incentive: High

$20/month

Active Comparator group

Description:

Financial Incentives: Participants will be randomized to receive $20/month in incentive dollars for the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. Purchasing behaviors will be tracked.

Treatment:

Other: Financial Incentive: Middle

$10/month

Active Comparator group

Description:

Financial Incentives: Participants will be randomized to receive $10/month in incentive dollars for the purchase of SNAP eligible fruits and vegetables. Purchasing behaviors will be tracked.

Treatment:

Other: Financial Incentive: Low