Despite the efforts of many organizations to provide home-delivered or group meals for local seniors, the system for ensuring that older adults are eating well could be improved, according to a 2007 study commissioned by the Indianapolis Retirement Home Fund (IRH Fund), a fund of CICF.

In response to increased requests to fund meal and nutrition programs for older adults, IRH Fund worked with the University of Indianapolis Center for Aging & Community (CAC) to research meal and nutrition programs available to older Hoosiers in central Indiana and to evaluate the accessibility of those programs. The result of this research led to the creation of Elders at the Table (EAT), an initiative that brings together providers of meals to the elderly, as well as other stakeholders, to see how the meal delivery infrastructure in central Indiana can be bolstered.

“We wanted to find out why we were getting so many funding requests for meal programs for older adults,” said Karen Whitney, IRH Fund board chair. “The Indianapolis Retirement Home Fund is only in its fourth year, but we want to be as much a catalyst for change as a grantmaker for projects related to enhancing life for older adults in central Indiana, so we embarked on the study with CAC.”

Among the study’s key findings were as follows:

• Senior nutrition affects a range of older adults, not just those who are low-income
• Senior nutrition involves a complex set of challenges – from the food itself to when and with whom meals are served, and
• Many diverse organizations operate independently of each other and their services could be better coordinated to serve older adults.

Further adding to the complexity is that medical and lifestyle advances have given us longer lives, and, therefore, the percentage of Americans over the age of 65 is increasing rapidly. At the same time, the systems that traditionally looked after our older citizens – families, neighborhoods and communities – are more fragmented by a mobile, fast-paced society, and they are not able to offer the safety nets they once did.

Just recently CAC made recommendations to the IRH Fund board on how to evolve EAT over the next three years:

• Create an infrastructure for meal and food providers 
• Increase public awareness of the need and programs available, and
• Promote collaboration among providers.

In response, the IRH Fund board is expected to make a major financial commitment to implement these recommendations.

According to Pam Velo, associate vice president for donor services at CICF, “Contributions to the IRH Fund are critical to help meet the needs of the elderly over the next few years as more and more Baby Boomers join the ranks of the elderly. IRH Fund is being strategic and forward thinking about how to help older citizens of central Indiana now and in the future.”

The EAT initiative is a strong example of how CICF and its partner funds are taking a role on complex societal issues. Learn how you can make a difference to local seniors through a contribution to the IRH Fund.

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