Ohio Department of Aging
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Publisher: Ohio Department of Aging, Older Americans Act Programs Division
Published Date: March 2000
Executive Summary
This report provides an overview of Ohio’s nutrition program for older adults, the six nutrition services offered, characteristics of those served by the program, differences between the two major funding sources, and the current challenges faced by Ohio’s nutrition providers.
It includes the history, purpose and structure of Ohio’s nutrition program and an analysis of service availability for each of the 12 regions. Begun in 1972 as a predominantly congregate nutrition program, the six services now offered are described in this report: home-delivered and congregate meal service, nutrition education, nutrition counseling, nutrition supplements and nutrition risk screening.
Nearly 112,000 older Ohioans benefit annual from this $55 million dollar program, predominately for congregate and home-delivered meals. Most participants are female; those receiving meals at home tend to be slightly older, less independent and at higher nutritional risk Participation in the Ohio congregate meal program is declining, paralleling national trends. Two-thirds of all meal service dollars fund home-delivered meals, an amount due in some part to Ohio’s Medicaid waiver program, PASSPORT, which provides meals to about half of its frail older clients.
Most meal providers are private, non-profit agencies that serve midday meals at senior centers and in public housing locations. Smaller providers tend to operate in more urban areas. More rural providers produce their own meals, however few providers statewide prepare food at meal sites. They reported funding, program image and transportation as service barriers. Local levies provide additional funding and many rely on volunteers to make meals happen throughout the state. Providers look to ODA for training and information about grant availability.
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Ohio Department of Aging