DALLAS — Low-income Dallas seniors were seven times more likely to visit a food pantry in the year after becoming Medicare eligible, leading to better food security, according to a new study from UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Authors of the study looked at data from nearly 545 households that visited the Crossroads Community Services food pantry in Dallas, analyzing levels of food insecurity and the number of visits for food assistance in the two years before and two years after an individual’s 65th birthday, when most people become eligible for the federal senior health insurance program.
Researchers suspect that reaching Medicare eligibility may improve access to such services for a number of reasons, including new-found entry to the health care system. The findings could point community organizers toward additional methods for connecting an often overlooked age group to resources as food prices continue to climb with record-breaking inflation.
