October 5, 2018
ACL recently awarded five grantees for innovative projects that will enhance the quality, effectiveness, and outcomes of nutrition services programs provided by the national aging services network. The grants total $1,197,205 for this year with a two-year project period. Through this grant program, ACL aims to identify innovative and promising practices that can be scaled across the country and to increase use of evidence-informed practices within nutrition programs.
The five organizations receiving grants and their projects are:
- Erie County Department of Senior Services – NY: The Albany County Department for Aging (ACDFA) and Erie County Department of Senior Services (ECDSrS) will initiate a technology driven congregate dining program including a restaurant dining program to current service models.
- Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc – GA: The Atlanta Regional Commission (Atlanta Area Agency on Aging), in partnership with affiliate nutrition service (NS) providers and Georgia State University researchers, will work to enhance the identification of, and support for older adults with elevated suicide risk or in mental health distress (ESR/MHD).
- AgeOptions, Inc – IL: The goal of this project is to decrease the prevalence of food insecurity and increase the likelihood that patients experiencing food insecurity and/or are at nutrition risk will receive and act upon referrals to community-based resources. This will be done by implementing a closed-loop referral system between healthcare providers and nutrition providers; 2) increasing referrals from healthcare providers to nutrition programs; and 3) increasing patient access to and utilization of nutrition programs, benefit programs (e.g. SNAP, Medicaid, etc.), and evidence-based wellness programs (e.g. CDSME, A Matter of Balance).
- The Carter Burden Network For the Aging, Inc – NY: The goal of the project is to reduce the level of cardiovascular risk among seniors attending senior centers by addressing highly prevalent uncontrolled high BP through introduction of an innovative multi-component intervention centered on evidence-based approaches to the delivery of nutritional services, with supporting elements of education and improved self-efficacy, designed with generalizability and broad adoption in mind.
- Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County – IN: This project will establish an innovative frozen meal delivery program for seniors age 60 and up, and develop a website application for ordering a week’s worth of frozen meals at a time. The goal of the Meals at Home quality improvement project is to determine the effectiveness of this innovative model for ordering and preparing food for seniors.