Older Americans Act Nutrition Programs(ES)
Lloyd, J. L. & Wellman, N. S. (2015). Older Americans
Act Nutrition Programs: a community-based nutrition
program helping older adults remain at home. Journal of Nutrition in
Gerontology and Geriatrics, 34(2),
90-109.
This
article speaks to the foundations of the Older Americans Act
in 1965 and the development of the act from then until now. It demonstrates the
need for the nutrition related aspects of the bill in that food insecure adults
are 50% more likely to have diabetes, 14% more likely to be hypertensive, 60%
more likely to have congestive heart failure or a heart attack, twice as likely
to report fair/poor general health, three times more likely to suffer
depression, and twice as likely to report gum disease and asthma.
I think
people generally have a misconception of nursing home or long term care
facilities. There is such a large gap between retirement communities (what I
thought long term care facilities were) and these skilled care facilities.
Anything that we can do as a nation to keep the elderly at home as long as
possible it beneficial, not only from a quality of life standpoint, but from a
financial standpoint. The cost for home meals is nowhere near the amount spent
on healthcare for our baby boomer population that is overpopulating the geriatric
demographic.
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