Quality of life and nutritional risk in elderly home-delivered meal recipients and non-recipients

This study evaluated the impact of receiving a home-delivered meal on the quality of life and nutritional risk of elders who were unable to attend congregate meal sites and who were unable to safely prepare a hot meal. Forty-three subjects on a waiting list were matched with a group currently receiving home-delivered meals. Matching criteria were functional needs measure, age, gender, and living arrangement.Home visits were conducted to collect the data and verify demographic information. Nutritional risk was assessed by the Nutrition Screening Initiative's Determine Checklist. Quality of life was measured across various domains including a global quality of life self-rating, mental health appraisal, functional ability, and food enjoyment. Two tailed t-tests failed to show differences in quality of life and nutritional risk between the groups at the 0.05 level of significance.In addition, the study reviewed the resources for meal preparation and grocery shopping possessed by the meal non-recipients that allowed them to remain at home without a meal provided. A significant difference was seen in the number of resources reported for meal preparation assistance with the meal non-recipient group reporting more informal resources.Department of Family and Consumer SciencesThesis (M.S.