Development and Application of a Community-based Meal Program Model for the Elderly in Rural Area

농촌지역 노인을 위한 공동 급식프로그램 개발을 위한 시범급식사업 결과의 적용 방안 연구

  • Heo, Young-Ran (Dept. of Food and Nutrition, Chonnam National University) ;
  • Shin, Jun-Ho (Dept. of Preventive Medicine, Chonnam National University) ;
  • Kim, Kyung-Sun (Dept. of Food and Nutrition, Chosun University) ;
  • Kim, Bok-Hee (Dept. of Food and Nutrition, Chosun University)
  • 허영란 (전남대학교 생활과학대학 식품영양학과) ;
  • 신준호 (전남대학교 의과대학 예방의학과) ;
  • 김경선 (조선대학교 자연과학대학 식품영양학과) ;
  • 김복희 (조선대학교 자연과학대학 식품영양학과)
  • Published : 2008.02.02

Abstract

Improved nutritional intake contributes to maintaining health and quality of life in elderly population and also reducing individual and social medical costs. Most of nutrition assistance programs for elderly, such as congregate or home-delivered meal programs, are not currently serviced in rural communities mainly due to low cost efficiency of program operation. However, the needs and necessity of such programs are presumed to be higher in rural area where the population density of elderly at nutritional risk is relatively high. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a community-based meal program for the rural elderly. In 2007, four rural communities located in Jeon-Nam province were selected and the pilot meal program was applied for three months. Following are key features of the meal program model developed in this study: 1) meal production and service are operated by elderly participants to overcome the voluntary personnel shortage 2) utilization of locally-produced foods is maximized to reduce the meal cost, 3) traditional cooking methods are applied to adjust the food preference of elderly, and 4) foods are serviced on site to minimize the food safety problem possibly caused by delivery process. The pilot programs resulted in high satisfaction with the programs of participating elderly. The community-based meal program model developed in this study is expected to be used as an effective nutrition and health intervention model for the rural elderly.

Keywords