Nutrition Assessment Education Project
Spokane
County
Assessing the Nutritional Health
of Seniors
Contents
Introduction
In some local health jurisdictions, agencies outside of the lead agency for community health assessment may have valuable nutrition assessment data to contribute to the assessment process. Agencies that serve seniors in the state of Washington are especially likely to have data. The Senior Nutrition Programs and Area Agencies on Aging are required to conduct nutrition screening and gather participant information. For more information about this national program see the National Policy and Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging.Assessing the nutritional status of a community's seniors is key to thoughtful population based planning. Seniors have increased risk of nutritional concerns, and interventions to improve nutritional status of seniors have been found to be effective in improving quality of life and reducing use of health care resources. A more detailed discussion of this topic is found at in the Position Paper of the American Dietetic Association: Nutrition, Aging, and the Continuum of Care.
Purpose
The overall goal of the assessment was to determine the nutrition risk status of seniors in Spokane County.Methods
PlanningIn order to gather data from a more representative sample, this was a collaborative effort between representatives from senior centers, non-profit Meals-on-Wheels agencies, and the local Area Agency on Aging (Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington, abbreviated ALTCEW).
This assessment process was budgeted at $20,000. Funds were allocated
from local capacity dollars and Older American Act funding.
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