Basics of Congregate
Congregate meal programs provide healthy meals served in group settings. They aim to keep older adults healthy and independent, offer opportunities for social engagement, and connect people with other supports and services. Explore strategies that increase engagement and ensure your program thrives.
Briefs
- Nutrition Services of the Older Americans Act — ACL's overview of nutrition services authorized
by the OAA including eligibility, purpose, definitions, standards, and outcomes - Congregate Meals: What’s Working in Communities Across the Country —
Interview with Montgomery County, Maryland's senior nutrition program - Enhanced Training for Congregate Meal Staff — Tips to provide needed training and resources
for congregate meal staff - Person-Centered Dining Choices — Tips for determining which dining options best
meet individual participant needs
Quick Guides
- The Benefits of Eating With Others — Graphic on the positive impact of congregate meals
- Recipe for Success: Congregate (YouTube)— Bite-sized video with tips on growing and sustaining congregate meal programs
- Plating Tips for Your Congregate Program — Tips on presenting an appealing plate
- Quick Tips: Congregate Meals — Information and resources related to common questions about OAA Title III-C1 Congregate Meals
- Quick Tips: Funding Options — Information and resources related to common questions on
funding for OAA Title III-C Nutrition Services - Identifying the Total Cost of a Meal — Summary brief for meal cost calculations
- Improving the Congregate Meal Dining Experience — Simple ways to increase participation and satisfaction
- The Dining Experience — Congregate Meal Policy Myth Busters — Common myths and the facts
about meal policies
Guides
- Kupuna Wellness Center Congregate Dining Program Handbook — Congregate dining program participant handbook
- Activity Guides
- Social, Mental, Emotional Health Coloring Pages — Activity guide
- Car Show and Parade — Safely distanced community event
- Crack the Code — Word unscrambling game
- Did You Know? Game — Gathering to encourage connection
- Guided Imagery — Relaxation technique/exercise
- Holiday Inspiration Calendar — Calendar of nutrition and food-related holidays
- Nutritionary — Drawing and guessing game
- Recipe Sharing — Group project with opportunity for culture exchange
- Senior BrushStrokes — Painting activity idea from Camden County Senior Center in Georgia
- Text Challenge — Group-text health challenges
- Food Waste Reduction— Resources for better food sourcing, reuse, donation, and menu engineering from the National Restaurant Association
- Managing and Reducing Wastes— A guide for commercial buildings from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Sustainability— Resources to help you operate in more environmentally friendly ways from the National Restaurant Association
Fact Sheets
- Meaningful Connection and Better Health Through Congregate Meals — Facts about how ACL's Senior Nutrition Program combats loneliness and social isolation
- Behaviorally Informed Intervention Materials— Description of GSA pilot study on increasing voluntary contributions at congregate meal sites
- Congregate Meal Programs Value Proposition – Infographic from ACL
- Nutrition Services Incentive Program (NSIP) — Definition of foods that can be purchased with NSIP allocations and resources to help ensure OAA alignment
- Understanding Participants’ Monetary Contributions — Issue brief on voluntary contributions at nutrition sites from ACL
Tools & Toolkits
- Congregate Program Quality Review Toolkit — Set of quality-focused tools for local service providers to assess OAA-funded programs and plan enhancements
- Plate Waste Tool — Audit tool developed by South Carolina Department on Aging that calculates plate waste scores for evaluation
- Help Your Local Meals On Wheels Program Ditch Disposables— Tools from Beyond Plastics to help meal programs make the switch from disposable to reusable
- Determine Your Nutritional Health — Screening tool from The Nutrition Screening Initiative to help assess nutritional risk