Partners in the Fight Against Financial Abuse

Helping Homeless Seniors Off the Streets

Chula Vista Police Department's Senior Volunteer Patrol Honored

HELPING OUR SENIORS

Local Nutrition Centers Promote Healthy Eating

Pamela B. Smith, Director, County's Aging & Independence Services

....With the high cost of living in our County and the

growing number of older adults with fixed incomes, you’d

think people would flock to an inexpensive, nutritious lunch

provided in a convenient setting where they can make new

friends. Not so, at least at many of our nutrition sites around the County.

..

....Since 2001, there has been a 21 percent decline in the number of people attending our lunch programs in San Diego County. Even requests for in-home meal delivery have dropped 16 percent over that same period. Nationwide and statewide, there’s a similar trend. We talked about our concerns with the new California Director of Aging, Lynn Daucher, when she visited us recently and toured one of our nutrition sites, the Potiker Family Senior Residence, a program of Senior Community Centers. SCC serves homeless and near-homeless seniors and is one of the few sites that has seen an increase in attendance.

......Ironically, even though the number of participants has gone down at most of our sites, the cost of providing meals has shot up because of higher food, gasoline and other overhead costs. Federal funding for the nutrition program in the Older Americans Act has remained the same.

......This downward shift in participation and the upward shift in costs spurred us to study the causes and pursue some changes. Our Assistant Deputy Director for Contracts, Rick Wanne, has taken on this challenge.

......“We’re concerned that seniors may be turning to inexpensive fast-food that may not be as healthy for them. Many of those menus are not good for the waistline and we’re seeing an increase in obesity among older adults,” Wanne says. “Our lunch programs also provide a social connection, and we’re hoping to prevent older adults from becoming isolated.”

......Working with Wendy Shigenaga, our nutrition consultant, Rick brought together nutrition contractors and other community experts to strategize ways to better serve the nutrition needs in this population. This spring, the group met several times to discuss possible causes for the decreasing participation, and to brainstorm solutions. They discussed the declining local, state and national trends in nutrition programs and the impact on the provider organizations. Important factors were identified, including food quality, variety, choice and environment.

......The group looked at best practices around the country. For example, Illinois is drawing greater participation by offering congregate meals in a public cafe setting, called Mather’s -- More Than a Cafe. A county in North Carolina is asking seniors to attend programs on healthy living, then they receive a meal voucher for local restaurants.

...Other suggestions included:
• Serving an early dinner rather than a noon meal.
• Offering two meals a day.
• Opening new nutrition sites in areas with growing senior populations.
• Delivering several frozen meals at one time to homebound seniors, who can heat them up and eat whenever they want.
• Giving a take-home dinner to people who come for the lunch programs.
• Planning Special Occasion meals in the evenings or on Saturdays.
• Utilizing volunteers to deliver meals.
• Using bus passes, fare vouchers and volunteers for transportation.

......The strategic planning group also identified ways in which our nutrition programs could collaborate better, including working together on purchasing food and supplies, funding, marketing and sharing information. They also plan to share consumer surveys to stay on top of the needs and desires of participants.

......“We continue to seek ideas for ways to make our nutrition dollars stretch farther and reach more people,” Rick says. “We hope to see much better participation as a result of the new approaches we want to implement in the next four to five years.”

......The Food for Thought project, which complements lunch with an hour of exercise or other programming at a San Diego County library, is one innovative approach that developed during this search for answers. Hopefully, it will spark additional creative solutions.

....If you have any ideas to make our nutrition services more cost-effective and attractive for participants, send an email to richard.wanne@sdcounty.ca.gov. If you’d like to have more information about the strategic planning for the nutrition program, see www.sdseniornutrition.org

Salud+HealthInfo is for information and educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for personal medical attention, diagnosis or hands-on treatment. If you are concerned abut your health or that of a child, please consult your family's physician or health provider immediately and do not try to diagnose yourself.

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