A new study comparing fresh versus frozen meal delivery programs for homebound older adults with dementia found that enrolling people in Meals on Wheels is feasible for helping them delay placement in nursing homes. The study also concluded that ready-to-eat meals beat out frozen meals in postponing nursing home placement.
Home-delivered meals promote food security, socialization and independence in older adults who are homebound. The researchers wanted to know if it was feasible to enroll people with self-reported dementia for Meals on Wheels, and if doing so would delay nursing home placement. The findings appeared in JAMA Network Open Wednesday.
The program evaluated older adults with self-reported dementia who were on waiting lists for different Meals on Wheels programs in Florida and Texas between April and October 2021. Researchers compared daily delivery and frozen meals that were mailed every two weeks.
The scientists randomized 325 participants into two groups. The first group included 128 people who received meals from a driver on a daily basis, and the second group was made up of 115 people who got frozen meals mailed to their homes every other week. Participants received the meals for up to six months. Of the people, the mean age was 81, 62.6% were women, and 49% of them lived alone.
At six months into the trial, 10.1% of participants were admitted to nursing homes. Participants who received daily-delivered meals had a lower, although nonsignificant, likelihood of being placed in a nursing home compared to those who received frozen meals.
Six months after the program started, 65.8% were still getting meals; 68.8% of people who received meals daily finished the program, and 62.6% of people getting frozen meals finished the program. One factor that could be an obstacle for people who got frozen meals was that they needed to be heated up and didn’t come ready-to-eat like the ones delivered daily.
“This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of implementing a pragmatic randomized clinical trial among participants with self- or proxy-reported dementia on waiting lists at Meals on Wheels programs,” the authors wrote. “We also showed the ability to link participants with their CMS data, monitor fidelity, and measure the time to nursing home placement.”
