Pennsylvania Department of Aging Presents Excellence in Nutrition and Best Practice Awards

GRANTVILLE, Pa., March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In honor of National Nutrition Month, the Pennsylvania Department of Aging today recognized individuals and organizations that are dedicated to providing older adults with nutritious meals at home and in senior community centers with the Secretary's Award for Excellence in Nutrition for Older Pennsylvanians and Best Practice awards.

"Nutritious meals play an important role in keeping older adults healthy and able to live and age in their homes and communities," said acting Secretary of Aging Theresa Osborne. "The individuals and organizations receiving the awards today are committed to ensuring that healthy meals are provided to those they serve."

The Secretary's Award for Excellence in Nutrition in Older Pennsylvanians and the Best Practice Awards are designed to recognize the people serving nutritious meals to older adult populations in the Commonwealth.  The awards were announced at the 2015 Pennsylvania Department of Aging Nutrition Conference, which recognizes individuals and groups who work to enrich nutrition programs for seniors. 

Awards for Best Practice and Secretary's Award for Excellence include:

Best Practice for Congregate Meal Program was presented to Beth Knize, the Meal, Menu and Café Coordinator for Encore Experiences in Harleysville.  This program functions as a traditional congregate meal program, while operating as a café model with wait staff serving food to older adults.  Each day, the program offers the traditional congregate meal as well as a "special of the day," including approved a la carte items such as salads, soup and sandwiches.  The café offers a flexible seating time with no reservations necessary.  Most food items are prepared from scratch by Ms. Knize, and include ingredients from Encore Experiences garden when possible. The program relies on senior and community volunteers, partnering with a local business volunteers who assist with preparing the food and serving those who attend. 

Best Practice for Home Delivered Meal Program was presented to Terry Barley, executive director of the Cumberland County Aging and Community Services, in recognition of establishing a collaborative approach to providing hot meal delivery services to individuals who were receiving frozen packaged meals from the Shippensburg Meals on Wheels (MOW) program.  Many older adults who were receiving meals through the Shippensburg MOW program were eligible for the Cumberland County Nursing Home's home delivery program.  Through collaboration and coordination with Cumberland and Franklin County Area Agencies on Aging, the Shippensburg MOW Board of Directors and the Shippensburg Senior Center, individuals are able to receive a hot, home delivered meal.  Meals prepared by the Cumberland County Home are now transported to the Shippensburg Senior Center, where volunteers individually package the food to be delivered to older adults in the Shippensburg MOW program.  Input from program participants indicates that the quality of the food is greatly improved and the program has attracted an additional one hundred individuals. Further, the cooperative effort is being provided at lower cost.

Best Practice in Home Delivered Meal Program was presented to Kimberly Delp from Meals on Wheels Greater Pittsburgh, a provider network of six agencies.  In April 2013, the Allegheny Department of Human Services redesigned the home delivered meal system.  Services are funded through the Area Agency on Aging, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, the Pittsburgh Foundation and the United Way of Allegheny County. The redesign included the creation of an automated reporting system that features a Smartphone application to capture real-time health alerts at the point of service. Delivery-staff that have regular face-to-face contact with consumers are trained to effectively recognize and report potential changes in consumer conditions. Follow ups on these reported "changes of condition" involve Nurse Intervention Specialists contacting those consumers when direct care staff report a possible change and insuring appropriate interventions and/or referrals take place. The program systematically targets the variances in consumer condition that, if not addressed, may result in more drastic, higher cost, interventions that threaten participant independence.

Secretary's Award for Excellence in Nutrition for Older Pennsylvanians Individual Award was presented to Jeanne Hugenbruch, Executive Director of the Dunmore Senior Center. Jeanne was approached by a local gentleman looking for a facility to serve the needs of nearly 50 older persons of Indian nationality.  It was agreed that with some modifications these individuals could attend the center and participate in congregate meals offered there.  A dual entrée menu was created to provide American dishes and meals that include ingredients that are part of traditional Indian cuisine. Jeanne's familiarity and knowledge of Indian culture was an added plus in welcoming the new individuals into the center. Through the center's commitment to sharing and understanding cultural differences in serving food, language and even providing transportation, attendance at the center has grown. The end result has been a culturally rich experience, both nutritionally and socially.

The Department of Aging and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging work together to ensure that all meals served to older adults meet the highest standards of nutrition to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. During National Nutrition Month, the department encourages older adults to connect with a meal by contacting your local Area Agency on Aging or Senior Community Centers.

For more information on these awards and nutrition programs, please visit aging.pa.gov

Media contact: Christina Reese, 717.783.1550

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Aging

Related Links

http://www.aging.pa.gov