Nutrition Services Program Standard 650-25-60

(NEW 7/1/19 ML #3552)

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Nutrition services are available to:

• Reduce hunger and food insecurity;
• Promote socialization of older individuals; and
• Promote the health and well-being of older individuals and assisting such individuals to gain access to:

• Nutrition.
• Other disease prevention and health promotion services to delay the onset of adverse health conditions resulting from poor nutritional health or sedentary behavior.

Nutrition services include congregate meals offered in a congregate setting and home-delivered meals offered in an individual’s home.

Congregate meals are available to:

• Individuals 60 years of age and older; (the participant’s spouse may dine with the participant regardless of age).
• Individuals with disabilities who reside in housing facilities occupied primarily by older individuals at which congregate meals are provided.
• Individuals with disabilities, regardless of age, who reside at home with and accompany older eligible individuals to the congregate site.
• Volunteers under age 60 providing meal services during the meal hours.

Congregate meals are offered in a variety of settings including but not limited to senior/community centers, churches, adult care facilities, schools and cafés. The congregate setting should be welcoming and pleasant where individuals can gather for a meal. A balanced meal and the social contact together provide a positive motivation for older individuals who often eat poorly on their own, become lonely and depressed in isolation. The nutrition program is more than just a meal—its mission is to nourish the whole person.

 

Congregate meals must be made available a minimum of three days a week at each meal site and may be provided as hot or cold.

 

Home-delivered meals are available to:

• Individuals 60 years of age and older and homebound by reason of injury, illness, physical incapacity, mental or social conditions, or isolation. An individual is considered homebound when one or more of the following exist:

• Limited physical mobility.
• Unable to tolerate a group situation due to physical or mental disability or substance abuse.
• Remote geographic location where no congregate site exists; or remote geographic location that prohibits accessing the meal site due to transportation issues.
• A registered congregate meal participant who requests a home-delivered meal(s) due to a short-term illness or health condition for a maximum of 30 days.
• A spouse or disabled dependent child of any age who resides with an eligible participant, if it is in the best interest of the participant.

Home-delivered meals provide much more than food; it provides a wholesome meal, a safety check, and sometimes the only opportunity for face-to-face contact or conversation for that day. Home-delivered meals are often the first in-home service that an older individual receives and is a primary access point for other home and community-based services.

 

Home-delivered meals must be made available a minimum of five days a week and may be provided as hot, cold, frozen, or shelf stable.

 

Priority for nutrition services must be given to older individuals:

• Residing in rural areas.
• With the greatest economic need (with particular attention to low-income older individuals including minorities with limited English proficiency).
• With the greatest social need (with particular attention to low-income older individuals including minorities with limited English proficiency).
• With severe disabilities.
• With limited English proficiency.
• With Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders with neurological and organic brain dysfunction and the caretakers of such individuals.
• At risk for institutional placement.