Pharmacies to farm stands: Assessing readiness for establishing farmers' markets at federally qualified health centers

INTRODUCTION: Access to healthy food retail outlets has been identified as a key indicator of healthy communities. Populations with low access to healthy foods (i.e., low-income, minority communities) tend to have high rates of diet-related health conditions and co-morbidities. Initiatives designed to improve access to healthy foods have focused on increasing food retail outlets including the development of farm stands and markets. Locating farmers' markets at federally qualified health centers (FQHC), which provide health care services to medically-underserved communities and vulnerable populations, may be a strategic method for increasing access to healthy foods and reducing health disparities. Although this method of increasing access has been utilized on an extremely limited basis, it aligns with the FQHC history of utilizing a holistic approach to address the needs of their communities. METHODS: In this presentation, we describe an evaluation tool for assessing community readiness for establishing an environmental intervention to increase access to healthy foods in partnership with community health centers. The tool was piloted with a population of FQHCs in South Carolina (N=20) representing 163 practice sites, and ultimately resulted in the selection of one rural community health center site for the implementation of an on-site farmers' market. Content analysis of field notes and reports collected during the readiness assessment process will be presented. RESULTS: Findings reveal three indicators of readiness (i.e., capacity, motivation, leadership) for implementing environmental interventions in partnership with community health centers. DISCUSSION: This partnership has the potential to significantly increase access to healthy foods in medically-underserved communities.