Participation in home-delivered meals programs may contribute to the health and independence of older adults living in the community, especially those who are food insecure or those who are making transitions from acute, subacute, and chronic care settings to the home. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive and systematic review of ALL studies related to home-delivered meals in order to shed light on the state of the science. A complete review of articles appearing in PubMed using the Keyword “Meal” was conducted; and titles, abstracts, and full-texts were screened for relevance. Included in this review are 80 articles. Most studies are descriptive and do not report on outcomes. Frequently reported outcomes included nutritional status based upon self-reported dietary intake. Additionally, most studies included in this review are cross-sectional, have a small sample size, and/or are limited to a particular setting or participant population. More rigorous research is needed to: 1) gain insight into why so few eligible older adults access home-delivered meals programs, 2) support expansion of home-delivered meals to all eligible older adults, 3) better identify what home-delivered meals models alone and in combination with other services works best and for whom, and 4) better target home-delivered meals programs where and when resources are scarce.

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Nutritional risk was associated with all-cause hospitalizations, nonsurgical hospitalizations, and mortality. Nutritional risk may affect the disablement process that leads to health services utilization and death. These findings point to the need for more attention on nutritional assessment, interventions, and services for community-dwelling older adults.

While moderate calorie restriction did not significantly decrease VAT in older adults at high risk for cardiometabolic disease, it did reduce total body fat and cardiometabolic risk factors without significantly more adverse events and lean mass loss.

Mealtime assistance may be necessary to prevent declines in hospitalized older adults' nutritional well-being. This paper reports on the implementation of the Support for and Promotion Of Optimal Nutritional Status (SPOONS) Volunteer Assistance Program. Patients were aged 65+, admitted to the Acute Care for Elders Unit at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, and in need of mealtime assistance. There were 236 documented patient-volunteer encounters at which social interaction (n=217; 91.9%), assistance with tray set-up (n=162; 68.8%), and prompting to eat (n=161; 68.2%) among other activities were performed. Mean time of interaction was 47.8 minutes, with an average estimated cost savings of $11.94 per encounter had the service been provided by a Patient Care Technician and $26.00 per encounter had it been provided by a Registered Nurse. This demonstration of the SPOONS program should be followed up with an evaluation of its effectiveness. .