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More Than a Meal

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Participants were randomized to one of three groups: daily, traditional meal delivery (Meals on Wheels Program); once-weekly frozen meal delivery; or waiting list for meals (control). The intervention period was 15 weeks. Daily, traditional meal delivery of frozen meals included socialization and safety check at time of delivery.

Goal / Mission

The objective of the study was to characterize the population of older adults on waiting lists for home-delivered meals and compare their health and health-related needs to the population of older adults living in the community.

Impact

Between baseline and follow-up, respondents receiving daily-delivered meals were more likely to exhibit:
• Improvement in mental health (i.e., anxiety)
• Improvement in self-rated health
• Reductions in the rate of falls
• Improvement in feelings of isolation and loneliness
• Decreases in worry about being able to remain in home

Results / Accomplishments

Recipients of home-delivered meals had greater improvements in anxiety, self-rated health, isolation, loneliness, and reduced rates of hospitalizations compared to those who did not receive meals on waitlist. The greatest improvements on all outcomes were seen among those who received daily meals.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Meals on Wheels America
Primary Contact
Kali S. Thomas, PhD, MA
Department of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Brown University
Box G-S121(6), Providence, RI 02912
Providence VA Medical Center, 830 Chalkstone Ave., Providence, RI 02908
401-863-9036
Kali_Thomas@brown.edu
Topics
Health / Older Adults
Health / Physical Activity
Organization(s)
Meals on Wheels America
Date of publication
3/2/2015
Target Audience
Older Adults

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Related Content for: More Than a Meal

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.
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