The Occupational Therapy Approach to Addressing Food Insecurity among Older Adults with Chronic Disease

Abstract

The older adult population is one of the fastest growing age groups in the United States. Various components influence productive aging, and current research has identified nutrition and healthy eating as key factors that impact older adults’ overall health status. While consumption of nutritious meals can help minimize the risk of health decline, the growing rate of food insecurity inhibits older adults’ abilities to access healthy food regularly. Additionally, the high prevalence of chronic disease and disability in older adults can also limit independent participation in food-related activities, such as shopping, self-feeding, and meal preparation. A lack of food access and difficulties engaging in food-related activities place older adults with chronic disease at an increased risk of malnutrition, disability, and losing independence, thereby threatening social participation, healthy aging, and quality of life. Due to their expertise in promoting health and independent living, occupational therapy practitioners may be uniquely positioned to enhance older adults’ healthy eating behaviors through the use of client-centered interventions tailored to food-related activities. This position paper reviews the scope of the occupational therapy profession, the consequences of food insecurity among older adults with chronic conditions, and strategies to enhance food-related activity participation in later life.

Factors Affecting Food-Related Activity Performance in Low-Income Older Adults

“…OTPs possess skills in analyzing an individual’s performance of food-related activities as well as evaluating the personal and environmental contexts in which these activities occur (AOTA 2020). OTPs are in a distinct position to address factors associated with food insecurity in older adults including the factors that occur within the environment and within the person, specifically those caused by physical, cognitive, and psychosocial conditions (Juckett and Robinson 2019). The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence an older adult’s performance of food-related activity including not just accessing but also managing food resources from a convenience sample in North Texas.…”

“…Developing community programs to address food insecurity is an emerging practice area in occupational therapy. New approaches to addressing food insecurity and its base causes are important and necessary (Juckett and Robinson 2019; Martin et al 2013). For example, a participant's choice of food pantry, motivational interviewing, and individualized service referrals resulted in improvements in participants’ food security and self-sufficiency scores (Martin et al 2013).…”

Implementing a Community-Based Initiative to Improve Nutritional Intake among Home-Delivered Meal Recipients

“…As older adults continue to express a desire to age in their own homes and communities, rather than residential care facilities [ 38 ], it is necessary that HDM providers be well equipped to manage older adults’ complex and ever-changing health and nutritional needs to optimize wellbeing. Recipients of HDMs often present with multiple health comorbidities and experience food insecurity at a level greater than the general older adult population [ 39 , 40 ]. Food-insecure older adults are also more likely to have poor diet quality [ 39 ], further validating the importance of RDNs to intervene with nutritional guidance for this vulnerable group.…”