National guidelines for home delivered meals

The National Meal Guidelines should ensure senior Australians receive quality, nutritious meals, in an effort to support older adults to remain at home for as long as possible.

The demand for community-based services that provide in-home assistance for older Australians is increasing and according to dietitian and project leader Associate Professor Karen Walton providing home-delivered meals is a proven way to support older adults in their own homes and to help reduce pressure on residential aged care facilities.

Professor Walton, from UOW’s Smart Foods Centre, has spent the past 10 years working to boost nutrition in the community, in hospitals and aged care settings.

“It is exciting to be working with the Australian Meals on Wheels Association to develop these contemporary and consumer-focused national meals guidelines,” Associate Professor Walton says.

She says it is estimated that 10-30 percent of older people residing in the community are malnourished, with the prevalence rates likely to be higher for some groups, including the frail aged.

“Older adults may become malnourished for a number of reasons, including ill health, reduced appetite, bereavement, dentition issues, social isolation, reduced mobility and economic constraints.

“Providing nutritious meals is extremely important, and these guidelines will be under-pinned by the latest dietary research. However, the appeal and quality of our food is foremost in our minds. At the end of the day, we want people to eat, and eat well.”

Meals on Wheels is Australia’s largest provider of home-delivered meals to frail older people. The community-based organisation currently delivers more than 14.8 million meals annually to approximately 53,000 clients across the country.

The National Meal Guidelines should set a new benchmark in relation to the food standards of delivered meals in Australia.

The project involves workshops around Australia to encourage consumer input, including dietary experts, chefs, service coordinators, volunteers and people that use Meals on Wheels services.

“This is a great project,” says Nelson Mathews, president of AMOWA and Project Steering Committee Chair.

“If someone has a disability, is recovering from an operation, or simply finds shopping and cooking a burden, good healthy food is more important than ever.

“The data supports the fact that countries that support Meals on Wheels, keep people healthier and independent for longer,” Mr Mathews says.

“This project is indicative of our strong commitment, and the principles of the Australian Government’s Commonwealth Home Support Program.”

The new guidelines will be released on Meals on Wheels Day which is celebrated on 31 August 2016.