Using a group timing instrument, labor minutes per meal were determined for a commissary‐satellite production system in an elderly nutrition program in Dover, Delaware. Paid and volunteer staff contributions were studied in both congregate (CM) and home delivered meal (HDM) service for the central kitchen and four satellite units. Highest productivity was achieved in the satellite unit with the most congregate meals. High HDM productivity was found in those units with a single driver or a full time position of coordinator for home delivered meals. Significant differences among the satellites were found in service activities for CM and HDM and for both paid and volunteer labor. Volunteers provided between 23% and 56% of total time used for CM and between 16% and 52% of total time used in HDM. In the central kitchen, volunteer labor comprised only 3% of total labor time per meal. Variations among satellite units of a commissary‐satellite production system represent opportunities to increase labor efficiency.
Using the productivity ratio, labor min/meal, this study analyzed the contribution of volunteer as well as paid staff in the congregate and home delivered meal services of eight nutrition programs for the elderly. A simple monitoring instrument was used to record volunteer and paid staff work activities. The contribution by volunteers was substantial and varied significantly among the centers and by number of meals served. Volunteer time was greater than paid staff time for the service and cleaning components of congregate service and for the transportation component of home delivered service. Understanding the volunteer contribution in elderly nutrition programs is important to program administrators as they make decisions for the provision of nutrition services to an expanding clientele with limited federal funding.
A group timing instrument was used to study both congregate (CM) and home delivered (HDM) meal service in an elderly nutrition program (ENP) in Wilmington, Delaware. All eight centers studied utilize vendor‐provided bulk food delivered daily at service temperature. Centers spent an average of 11.75 /pm 4.07 min/meal to provide CM and 16.25 /pm 5.04 min/meal to provide HDM. The use of volunteer and paid labor was measured in all centers. Volunteers provided between 24% and 73% of total time used in CM and between 3% and 63% of total time used in HDM. These findings expand the knowledge about the use of the labor resource in nutrition programs for the elderly.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.