The Access to Food is Medicine for All (AFMA) Lab is dedicated to identifying and implementing community-led, participant-centered strategies to improve health by addressing food insecurity and other non-medical health conditions. Our lab focuses on integrating these approaches within healthcare teams, leveraging the unique expertise of community health workers, navigators, and other partners.

We prioritize academic-community partnerships, working collaboratively with local governments, healthcare systems, and grassroots organizations to co-create sustainable solutions to improve health for all. Using Implementation Science frameworks, we design, evaluate, and scale programs to ensure real-world effectiveness and impact.

Our Focus

  • Centering Communities: Collaborating with community members and stakeholders to co-design interventions that reflect local needs and strengths.
  • Empowering Teams: Training and integrating diverse healthcare team members, such as community health workers and navigators, to support holistic care delivery.
  • Innovative Partnerships: Partnering with local governments, healthcare systems, and non-profits to create meaningful, scalable solutions.
  • Rigorous Evaluation: Applying Implementation Science principles to assess program impact and guide sustainable implementation.

Current Projects

CareConnect: Co-Designing Strategies for Improving Health-Related Needs Referrals

This project is done in partnership with community and healthcare partners to increase health-related social needs referral connections for patients to community resources that address their social needs. We also apply Context-Driven Co-Design (CD2) methodology with interest-holders in this study to advance state-of-the-science methods in implementation science.  

Integration of Community Health Workers in Academic Medical Centers

This project evaluates the training, integration, and impact of community health workers in delivering patient-centered care within academic medical centers, focusing on addressing non-medical health needs.

This lab has received funding from the US Department of Agriculture, the Duke Endowment, and the Kate B. Reynolds Foundation, and the American Heart Association.

Recent Projects

Fresh Food Rx

A community-informed and participant-centered produce prescription program designed to address food insecurity and improve chronic disease outcomes. This initiative is guided by Implementation Science principles to ensure scalability and long-term success.
 

Recent Publications

 Zimmer R, Strahley A, Weiss J, McNeill S, McBride AS, Best S, Harrison D, Montez K. Exploring Perceptions of a Fresh Food Prescription Program during COVID-19. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 28;19(17):10725. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph191710725. PMID: 36078442; PMCID: PMC9518155.

Zimmer, R, Strahley, A, Shenberger, D, Palakshappa, D, Abdelfattah, L, Birken, S, Vilardaga, R, Crotts, C, Hanchate, A. Fresh Food Rx: Evaluating the Impact of a Produce Prescription Program on Engagement and Well-being Using the RE-AIM Framework. JGIM. 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-025-09687-0 

Zimmer, R, Singletary, C, Aguilar, A, Haines, E, Chandler, A, Hanchate, A, Foley, K, Strahley, A, Caruana, M, Birken, S. From mandate to meaning: A qualitative analysis of health related social needs implementation in a large, multistate health system. Health Services Insight. 2026. DOI: 10.1177/11786329251406083