Assessing Clinical Staff Willingness to Learn and Implement the FIES Scale in the Adult Psychiatric Setting

When treating and studying mental health we must identify all of the factors that play a role in mental stability. Basic needs such as access to water, food, and resources can play a significant role in mental stability and can increase or decrease the likelihood of triggering, exacerbating, or eradicating a mental illness. Human beings need their basic needs met in order to have a healthy foundation and tackle mental and medical disorders. Scholarly evidence shows a positive correlation between food insecurity and moderate to high levels of psychological distress. Inadequate access to food increases the probability of disorders, psychotic breakthroughs and/or exacerbation of psychiatric illnesses. Individuals with mental health disorders are at risk for poor food security. The DNP project created and implemented for quality improvement assess clinicians’ willingness to implement the Food Insecurity Experience Survey (FIES) in an adult inpatient psychiatric stabilization and residential setting after the completion of an educational program. Project evaluation involved the Evidence-Based Practice Assessment Survey (EBPAS), a pre- and post-test surveys on FIES knowledge, and a post-test on the usefulness of the educational program. Analysis revealed significance improvements in the Openness, Appeal, and Requirements subscales of the EBPAS. Items on the pre- post-test survey on FIES knowledge were statistically significant. Likewise, the results revealed significant satisfaction with the educational program. Facilitators of the project concluded that the project outcomes illustrate the utility of an educational program on the implementation of FIES for food insecurity screening in mental health settings.