United States Department of Agriculture nutrition assistance programs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review protocol

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this scoping review is to examine the published research on federal nutrition assistance programs administered by the United States (U.S.) Department of Agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the U.S., U.S. territories, and tribal nations. The review will identify the scope of the available research and provide research and policy recommendations. INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic made individuals more vulnerable to experiencing food insecurity. Federal nutrition assistance programs help to address food insecurity and have been rapidly adapting to meet food and nutrition needs among affected communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to understand the scope of the current research on this topic to help inform future research, practice, and policy recommendations. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This review will include studies focused on federal nutrition assistance programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the COVID-19 pandemic. The scoping review will consider all primary research designs. METHODS: Pubmed, CINHAL, Scopus, and Proquest’s Health Management databases will be used for the literature search. Only articles published in English since March 1, 2020 will be considered. Titles/abstracts followed by full-text articles will be reviewed to determine which articles meet the inclusion criteria and should be included in the review. Data will be extracted from each included article using a data extraction template in Covidence that will be developed by the study team. Data extracted will include information on key findings related to the review questions. At each step, two independent reviewers will be assigned to each article. Data will be summarized and presented in tables, charts, and narrative summary.