Pacific Grove, Calif. – January 4, 2024 – A new study at Brown University School of Public Health, in collaboration with Meals on Wheels America, suggests home delivered meals help older adults stay in their homes longer, even compared to shipped, frozen meals.
Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula‘s (MOWMP) Home Delivered Meals program has been providing local homebound seniors, disabled adults, and veterans with freshly prepared, hot meals since 1972. Meals are delivered Monday through Friday by caring volunteers who also provide wellness checks and vital socialization for clients.
Christine Winge, Executive Director at MOWMP says, “We are very fortunate to have the programmatic roots, high-capacity facilities, and dedicated staff to prepare more than 1,000 meals from scratch each day and deliver them hot and ready to eat.”
In recent years, the model of mailing frozen meals in bulk has emerged as a lower-cost alternative. While both models provide similar nutritional benefit, according to the research, older adults receiving frozen meals do not experience the socialization, assistance, and identification of service needs, which are believed to drive many of the positive outcomes associated with receiving home delivered meals.
Winge continues, “Providing our clients with hot meals is a real outlier for programs like ours. This means more independence, comfort, and social connections for the clients we serve across Monterey County.”
The additional benefits afforded by the daily delivered model are especially important for the homebound; a population who experiences social isolation, loneliness, malnutrition, and cognitive challenges that can impact meal preparation.
Read more about this groundbreaking research here, and for more information, visit MOWMP’s website.
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