January 27, 2017 – More Than Food

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Anchor lead: A new program aims to expand the role of Meals on Wheels, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Meals on Wheels, which is already bringing food to those who are home-bound, is poised to expand its role into helping keep people healthy, in partnership with Johns Hopkins and a funding organization called Quantified Ventures. Dan Hale, assistant professor of geriatrics at Hopkins, says Meals on Wheels will take on three responsibilities.

Hale: They will continue to provide meals, in addition to that these volunteers could be trained to actually be observing a little bit more.  Is there a sign that perhaps the person is a little more confused than last time? Or took a lot longer to get to the door? These might be warning signs that they really need some medical attention. And then the third would be to do an extensive home safety check and if needed, some actual modifications.  :27

Hale says expertise from Johns Hopkins will help inform both training and interventions, and aims to keep people out of the hospital. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.