Volume 2, Issue 5

The Final Forkful

This late-month newsletter covers exciting nutrition network news that happened this month.

From the Nutrition and Aging

Resource Center

Let us know how we are doing! - DEADLINE EXTENDED!

The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center is seeking input on how we are doing. Your feedback is valuable and will help inform the direction of the Resource Center’s resources, professional development opportunities, and research endeavors.

Please complete this survey by June 9, 2023.

Completion is estimated to take less than 15 minutes.

Thank you for your time and valuable input.

Please feel free to share this with your colleagues. If you have any questions or concerns about this survey, you can contact Catherine S. Rudolph, at crudolph@iastate.edu.

Survey

2023 Summer Webinar Series: EVALUATION

Placing the 'Value' in Evaluation: Practical Tips for Measuring Impact

Do your programs or services make an impact on those you serve? How do you know? How do you measure it? Or have you ever had to reduce participants in a program because funding was cut? Do you have a wait list for services, and if so, how do you decide who is enrolled first? As community based and social service agencies, it can seem daunting to measure our success, to show the impact we are making, especially when evaluation isn’t something funders typically fund. Join us as we discuss why evaluation is important, how it can be used to help objectively prioritize limited resources, and how to get started.

Learn More - Meet the Speaker

Meet the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center Team!

Ashley Danielson, the Nutrition Coordination Director for the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center, introduces herself in this short video. Follow the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center on social media as Ashley will be answering additional questions sent in by YOU on our Instagram stories!

Bambi Press, Healthy Aging Director for the Iowa Department on Aging and the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center, shares her background in this short video. Follow the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center on social media as Bambi will be answering additional questions sent in by YOU on our Instagram stories!

Say hello to Ashley and Bambi as they present at upcoming conferences this summer!

New Resources Available on the Website!

See what is new! New and updated resources included on acl.gov/senior-nutrition:

June 6, 2023

3:00 - 4:00 PM CT

Connection Chat!

Join us for an interactive opportunity to meet, connect, and chat with nutrition professional peers from across the nation. Whether you have been in the aging nutrition network for 20 years or 20 days, connecting with and learning from others who work in the aging nutrition space can be an invaluable tool.

This call will begin with a few quick announcements from the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center, and then attendees will spend the majority of the time in small, virtual breakout rooms based on the primary demographics of the participants each serves: urban, rural, or suburban. These rooms are intended for participants to connect, ask questions of each other, and learn from each others’ experiences. It will be highly interactive, so please come ready to participate.

Join the Facebook Group!

Nutrition and Aging News From the Network

U.S. Malnutrition Deaths Have More Than Doubled

Between 2018 and 2022, malnutrition deaths have more than doubled according to data from the CDC. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have worsened food insecurity and malnutrition, particularly in older Americans.

ACL Awards Cooperative Agreements to Support Innovations in Nutrition Programs and Services

ACL is happy to announce that 12 Innovations in Nutrition Programs and Services (INNU) grants were awarded for the 2023 grant year to achieve the goals of the Older American Act (OAA) Title III-C Nutrition Services program. For year one, six community research grantees were given a total of $3,319,084 in funding. Research grants are intended to increase our collective knowledge about nutrition, effective interventions, and evidence-based models for delivering nutrition programs at the community level. Six program replication grantees were awarded a total of $813,557 for the first year to replicate and sustain previously successful grant models with diverse populations. Research and replication grant projects establish equitable approaches to reaching their target populations and align with the OAA by targeting services to underserved older adults with greatest social and economic need, to permit such individuals to remain in home and community-based settings. See a list of the grantees awarded and learn more.

Senior Nutrition Programs in the News

The Administration for Community Living has created a page on the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center page that collects and highlights news stories related to senior nutrition programs across the nation.

Have a story to be shared? Email aclnutrition@betah.com

This project was supported in part by grant number 90PPNU0002 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.