Traditional Food Program Reduces Heart Failure Hospital Visits in Navajo Nation
A culturally tailored meal program rooted in traditional Diné (Navajo) foods significantly reduced hospitalizations and emergency department visits among heart failure patients in rural Navajo Nation, according to a new randomized clinical trial led by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, the University of Pennsylvania, and Gallup Indian Medical Center in New Mexico.
The study, known as MUTTON-HF (Medically Utilized Tailored Traditional foods to Optimize Nutrition in Heart Failure), included 206 adults receiving care at two Indian Health Service sites who were randomized to receive usual care or eight weeks of medically tailored meals incorporating traditional Diné ingredients and recipes.
The authors believe the trial represents the first Indigenous “Food Is Medicine” intervention to improve cardiovascular health outcomes. Other studies of medically tailored meal programs for heart failure have focused on the post-hospital discharge period and urban populations, they wrote.