Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115956

Beth A. Rabinovich, PhD, Suzanne W. McNutt, MS, RD, and Robert Ficke, MA. Westat, 1650 Research Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850, 301-315-5965, bethrabinovich@westat.com

The U. S. Administration on Aging's (AoA) nutrition program, established with the Older Americans Act (OAA), in 1972, is the largest OAA program in terms of dollars spent and participants served. The OAA specified targeting persons 60 years of age and older with the greatest economic and social need. AoA conducts an annual survey of service recipients. In the 2004 National Survey, 73 percent of the nearly 1 million home delivered meals clients were 75 years of age or older and 26 percent had a household income of less than $10,000.

This presentation focuses on the contribution of AoA's home delivered meals (HDM) program to daily food intake among recipients. Results showed that many of the recipients ate only one serving of food per day in each of the major food groups, and that serving was obtained from the HDM. For instance 50 percent of HDM clients reported eating one serving of meat daily, and 96 percent of those clients reported eating the meat served with the HDM. This pattern held for all food groups included in the survey instrument (i.e., meats, beans, bread, vegetables, fruits, and dairy). We also found for all food groups, that the majority of recipients who ate only one serving per day received HDM five times a week and overwhelmingly reported eating the food from that food group, demonstrating the major contribution of the HDM. This information will help AoA and state and community agencies that administer HDM programs to target clients in most need.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be abe to

• Identify the contribution of the home delivered meals program to its recipients.
• Describe the survey of the Administration on Aging's home delivered meals recipients.
• Articulate the results of the survey in terms of demographic characteristics.

Keywords: Elderly, Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.