Development and validation of the Social Determinants of Health Questionnaire and implications for “Promoting Food Security and Healthy Lifestyles” in a complex urban food ecosystem

ABSTRACT

In this case study, a formative evaluation was conducted for “Promoting Food Security and Healthy Lifestyles” pilot intervention at a Community-Based Organization in a marginalized neighborhood in Bedford-Stuyvesant in New York City. Utilizing a rigorous, theoretically grounded, and mixed methods approach, a survey was designed to encompass the social, environmental, and behavioral determinants of food insecurity and health promotion for Emergency Food Assistance System users. The final survey tested well for face and content validity and meets the criteria for internal reliability. This will aid to develop culturally tailored programs and policies for low-income, food insecure populations facing social and health disparities in this large urban neighborhood.

KEYWORDS:

• Food security
• formative evaluation
• health disparity
• healthy lifestyle
• social cognitive theory
• urban food environment

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the participants who shared their stories and took part in this study. A special thanks to the administrators, project coordinators, and staff who are committed to serving the CBO. We would also like to thank our MPH student research assistants for their work in survey administration and assistance with community mapping. Thanks to additional staff volunteers for their contribution to the project.

Authorship

Preety Gadhoke was the principal investigator and led the study design and the entire research process, including IRB applications, theoretical grounding, study design, participant sampling, and the drafting of this manuscript. Salome Pemberton was the lead project coordinator for survey instrument modifications, data collection, database management, data analysis, and community food mapping. Preety Gadhoke and Salome Pemberton trained all graduate student research assistants in survey interviewing. Ava Foudeh oversaw Stages 1–3 of the research and led the development of the SDHQ survey questionnaire. Barrett Brenton is the AmeriCorps VISTA administrator and aided with the vision of the research project. All authors were involved in designing and implementing the research project and drafting the manuscript.

Ethical standards disclosure

This study was conducted according to the guidelines laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki and all procedures involving human subjects/patients were approved by the Human Subjects Review Board at St. John’s University. Written and verbal informed consent was obtained from all subjects/patients. Verbal consent was witnessed and formally recorded.

Additional information

Funding

This research received funding from the AmeriCorps VISTA Health Futures program through the New York Campus Compact, Cornell University [Grant No. 06SANY0018]. The funders had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article.