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North Central Texas CollegeMeals on Wheels ofDenton CountyA Research ReportMarissa Bunn12/9/2012

TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION.2SENIOR HUNGER AND SOCIAL ISOLATION .3Why Do these Issues Matter? .3What are the Hunger States? .4Which Seniors are Most at Risk? .5COMBATTING SENIOR HUNGER AND SOCIAL ISOLATION .5How Does MOWDC Help? .6What Other Services Does MOWDC Provide? .6How Do These Services Benefit the Community? .7CONCLUSION .7KEY TERMS .9WORKS CITED .101

INTRODUCTIONThe purpose of this report is to describe and analyze the problems addressed by Mealson Wheels of Denton County, hereafter MOWDC. The report will define the problems of seniorhunger, food insecurity, and social isolation that confront senior citizens on a daily basis.MOWDC offers solutions through home-delivered meals, congregate meals, and transportationservices (mowdc.org).Senior hunger is discussed throughout this report. It should be noted that todetermine levels of senior hunger, researchers such as Professors Gundersen and Ziliak uselevels of food insecurity to determine who is at risk for hunger compared to those currentlysuffering from hunger. Gundersen and Ziliak also note that though overall levels of foodinsecure households have fallen, the levels of food insecurity among seniors actually increasedbetween 2009 and 2010 (2).There may be unfamiliar terms throughout this report. Please see the KEY TERMS onpage 9 for explanations and definitions.2

SENIOR HUNGER AND SOCIAL ISOLATIONSenior hunger is a growing problem affecting millions of Americans each day. Accordingto the Meals on Wheels of America Association website, there are 8.3 million seniors facinghunger each day. In their report “Senior Hunger in America 2010: An Annual Report” whichwas updated on May 3, 2012, Professors Gundersen and Ziliak report that one in seven seniors(or 14.85%) are threatened with hunger. The number of seniors facing hunger increased byseventy-eight percent from 2001 to 2010 (2).In addition to facing the risk of hunger, many seniors are also at risk for social isolation.As stated on the MOWDC website, the homebound seniors that they serve may not see anyonebut the MOW volunteer who delivers their meal each day. Social isolation increases the risk ofdepression for homebound seniors, which can further exacerbate the original illness or physicaldisability that prevents them from being mobile. (Choi and McDougall n.p.).Why Do these Issues Matter?Millions of elderly Americans are suffering from diseases directly related to preventablehunger. Hunger, social isolation, and lack of adequate transportation can contribute to healthproblems including depression, malnutrition, and inflammation (Aiello, Gowda, and Hadly 2;Thompson, et al. 1). Inflammation is a marker that is strongly correlated with chronic disease(Aiello, Gowda, and Hadly 2).To demonstrate the effects of hunger on ADL, MOWAAF reports that “A senior at risk ofhunger has the same chance of an ADL limitation as someone 14 years older a 64 year oldsenior suffering hunger is likely to have the ADL limitations of a 78 year old”. The same reportprojects an increase of seventy-five percent for “some form of food insecurity” for seniors by2025 (A Brief on “The Causes, Consequences, and Future of Senior Hunger in America” 3).Seniors with diminished capacities for ADL are unlikely to be able to continue to liveindependently.The senior hunger crisis does have significant impact on all citizens of the United States.As the population ages, rising rates of senior hunger will increase the strain on the healthcaresystem nationwide (Gundersen and Ziliak 13). The problem of senior hunger is most apparentin the “hunger states”.What are the Hunger States?The “hunger states” are the states where seniors are most at risk of hunger. Based onpercentages these are the states with the highest risk of senior hunger, and each of these stateshas a percentage of hunger over seven percent, which is more than twenty-five above averagefor the country over all (mowaa.org).3

Based on data obtained from 2001-2007, Texas ranks fourth among the states forseniors at risk of hunger. According to mowaa.org, eight-point-nine percent of seniors in Texasface daily hunger. See Table 1 below for a ranking of the top ten “hunger states”.RankStateHunger Percentage1Mississippi12.29%2South Carolina9.83%3Arkansas9.7%4Texas8.9%5New 6%9North Carolina7.3%10Oklahoma7.12%Table 1Data from mowaa.orgAs shown in Table 1, the South has the highest percentages of daily hunger risk forseniors. Studies suggest that these states in the South or the “hunger states” share certainattributes that place seniors at greater risk for hunger. The list below shows the sharedattributes the “hunger states”.Shared attributes of the “hunger states”: Larger Hispanic and African-American populationsMore seniors living at or near poverty levelMore seniors under seventyMore disabled or unemployed seniorsMore seniors with twelve or less years of schoolingMore seniors living with grandchildren(mowaa.org).4

Which Seniors are Most at-Risk?Just as the “hunger states” have shared attributes that predict who is most at risk, thereare shared demographics among the types of seniors who are most at risk. The list below showsthe demographics for seniors most at-risk.The seniors most at-risk are: Living on limited incomesBetween sixty and seventyAfrican-AmericansHispanicsSingle, divorced, or widowedRentingLiving in the SouthLiving with a grandchildHigh-school dropouts(mowaa.org).The majority of available statistics on senior hunger originates with research funded bythe Meals on Wheels Research Foundation. In “A Brief on ‘The Causes, Consequences, andFuture of Senior Hunger in America’”, MOWAA predicts a seventy-five percent increase forseniors experiencing “some form of food insecurity” and a thirty-three percent increase forseniors suffering hunger (Meals on Wheels Association of America Foundation 3). The followingsection discusses ways MOWAA and MOWDC are working to prevent this disturbing prediction.SOLUTIONS: HOMEDELIVERED MEALS ANDTRANSPORTATION SERVICESThe Meals on Wheels Association of America is made up of five thousand local “SeniorNutrition Programs” operating in all fifty states and U.S. territories. The member organizationssuch as MOWDC provide nutritional assistance to over one million seniors across the U.S. eachday (mowaa.org).Member organizations provide homebound seniors with delivered meals, usuallyMondays through Fridays around noon. Alternatively, some members provide noontimecongregate meals at specified locations throughout their areas. For example, MOWDC servesmeals Monday through Friday at the Senior Activity Center in Lewisville as well as six otherlocations throughout the county. The meals are provided free-of-charge to anyone over 60,though there are suggested donation rates. Seniors must sign up one day in advance to securetheir meal (mowdc.org).5

How Does MOWDC Help?MOWDC offers its clients something special: food and contact with the outside world.SPAN, Inc. is the non-profit organization that runs Meals on Wheels of Denton County.MOWDC offers several programs for the senior citizens of Denton County. MOWDC provideshome delivered noontime meals to homebound elderly, veterans, and other disabled persons.Meals are delivered to clients’ doors by trained volunteers Monday through Friday. Accordingto MOWDC, many of their clients receive no other food or human contact each day(mowdc.org).As previously mentioned, the recipients of the home delivered meals are not only at riskfor hunger, but for social isolation. Both chronic hunger, or undernutrition, and social isolationhave serious health consequences. This can further reduce the quality of life for those seniorswho are already suffering from limited mobility or disability which causes them to behomebound in the first place.What Other Services Does MOWDC Provide?MOWDC provides seniors additional services that improve their quality of life. Inaddition to home-delivered meals, MOWDC provides daily congregate meals at senior centersthroughout the county. Congregate meals are served in group settings with nutritionallybalanced foods prepared by MOWDC. Meals are free (donations accepted) to anyone 60 orolder as well as their spouses, regardless of age (mowdc.org).MOWDC also provides affordable transportation through SPAN, Inc. Thirty vehicles areavailable on a “demand respond” basis. All vehicles are equipped to handle disabledpassengers (mowdc.org).Senior Paws is a new service in development to provide homebound seniors with petfood so that they do not have to share their delivered meals with pets. Senior Paws will delivera monthly pet food supplement to seniors in need (mowdc.org).6

How Do These Services Benefit the reDentonCounty community. MOWDC/SPAN served over 84,000 meals last year and provided over74,000 trips. Eighty percent of their clients live on less than six hundred dollars per month.MOWDC provides the necessities these seniors cannot afford by themselves (mowdc.org).Without Meals on Wheels, many seniors might not be able to remain independent.Because the affected seniors are generally those who are living at or near poverty level, thiscould cause a drain on the community at large. More government funding would have to beprovided to support those seniors who cannot afford to take care of themselves.Additionally, hungry people are not healthy people. Undernutrition causes serioushealth consequences for the food insecure seniors, but there are consequences for the entirenation. The population of the United States continues to age, and with food insecurity growingamong seniors more citizens than ever before will be at risk for worse health.The healthcare system in the United States is not prepared to handle an ever-increasingsick population. If senior hunger is not addressed by more people, there is a risk that growinghealthcare costs will affect tax rates across the board. By addressing senior hunger, MOWDCand MOWAA benefit the entire nation.CONCLUSIONTexas is among the states with the highest levels of food insecurity among seniorcitizens. MOWDC addresses multiple issues for the local community. When considered inconjunction with the rest of the members of the Meals on Wheels Association of America,MOWDC is part of a large force working towards solving the issues that accompany seniorhunger and social isolation.Many people across America are concerned about feeding hungry people on the globalscale, but they often forget that there are also millions of hungry people in the United Stateseach day. While MOWDC does an excellent job providing for the hungry seniors of DentonCounty, the organization could benefit by raising more community awareness about its work.One suggestion is for MOWDC to start their own Facebook page as many other Meals onWheels programs have done nationwide. Facebook and other social networking sites are acheap and easy way to inform people about and promote an organization.Another suggestion for MOWDC to promote community awareness is for them topartner with a local restaurant or other popular business for an annual fundraising event. Theycould also use this occasion to recruit new volunteers.7

Lastly, MOWDC could train some of its volunteers to speak at schools in the community.These speakers could attract attention by teaching children at a younger age about theproblems and solutions regarding senior hunger. Getting students involved at a young age canhelp prepare future generations to better fight against issues involving nutrition and health.With these strategies, perhaps the United States will one day be a nation without foodinsecurity among the elderly.Image Source: MOWDC Website8