Taxonomy of Seniors’ Needs for Food and Food Assistance in the United States

Abstract

Food insecurity results in poor health among seniors. Food and nutrition assistance targeted to seniors experiencing or at risk of food insecurity prevents poor health outcomes and enables seniors to age in place. Currently, the primary modes of service delivery are targeted to seniors who are older and frailer than average, rendering these modes less responsive to the needs of the broader population of food-insecure seniors and limiting the preventive potential of food assistance. This study aimed to understand needs among seniors for food and food assistance and to develop a comprehensive taxonomy for these needs. The taxonomy depicts seniors’ self-identified needs that relate to their ability to access and use food and nutrition assistance across three domains: physical abilities, consuming food, and access and use of transportation. The results of this study are intended to provide in-depth information to support effective alignment of programs with seniors’ needs.

Perceived Neighborhood-Level Drivers of Food Insecurity Among Aging Women in the United States: A Qualitative Study

“…This is particularly concerning given that this population often has specific nutrition needs and increased multiple morbidity risk. 24,28 Findings from this study also highlight how handicap inaccessibility within stores is an additional structural challenge to accessing food among this population.…”

“…Evidence has also linked multiple chronic diseases 11 with food insecurity, elucidating challenges among older populations to obtain and prepare nutritious foods. 26,27 The limited research examining neighborhood-level influences on food insecurity among aging populations has largely focused on transportation availability, 23,28 grocery store accessibility, 23,27 and food aid adequacy. [27][28][29] However, few studies have explored how the broader food environmentssuch as the convenience and availability of unhealthy food options-may shape food insecurity among aging populations, warranting further examination.…”

“…However, prior studies have shown how current service delivery programs such as Meals on Wheels are restricted to older populations (eg, aged 60 years and older), potentially overlooking this programmatic need for younger seniors with a high burden of food insecurity and chronic illness. 28 In addition, rather than incurring additional costs from online delivery and service fees (which are not covered by the SNAP online ordering pilot program), seniors should be allotted discounts or fees should be eliminated altogether.…”

‘It’s not just about the dinner; it’s about everything else that we do’: A qualitative study exploring how Meals on Wheels meet the needs of self‐isolating adults during COVID‐19

“…Participants highlighted that there are ongoing concerns about budget cuts and service closures, which would be particularly concerning if an increasingly ageing population led to significant service demand (Campbell et al., 2015 ). This is particularly significant, given that a variety of ageing and environmental factors, including physical challenges, difficulties around food consumption and access and use of transport are common in older adults, and identified as contributing to their need for food assistance (Lee et al., 2005a ; Warren et al., 2020 ). Despite their projected benefits in reducing healthcare and long‐term care costs (Meals on Wheels America, 2020 ; Thomas & Mor, 2013 ), MoWs are suffering budget cuts globally, or do not receive sufficient funding to keep up with the need for the service; this hinders their ability to deliver community services to the most vulnerable and their capacity to respond to increased service demand (Gualtieri et al., 2018 ; Winterton et al., 2013 ).…”

Development of Older Adult Food Insecurity Index to Assess Food Insecurity of Older Adults

“…The CPS uses the USDA Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) to identify food insecure older adults (2). The HFSSM mainly captures food access issues resulting from financial resource constraints, which are the primary drivers for such insecurity in the general population (3)(4)(5). However, older adults experience food insecurity differently from other age groups.…”