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Essay On Home Bound Elderly

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Nutrition and the Home Bound Elderly
The provision of nutrition services is critical to all individuals as it ensures the access to healthy food as well as education on proper nutrition. However, the ill and the elderly have an increased need for nutrition services as this could facilitate disease management, improve health outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. Past studies and research have shown that nutritional support of the elderly and the ill could improve the quality of life in terms health status and overall healthcare costs (Frongillo et al., 2010; Thomas & Mor, 2013; Campbell et al., 2015, Thomas & Mor, 2013). The Washington Association of Senior Nutrition Programs (WASNP) has identified the importance of home delivery in improving the health outcomes of the senior population and the whole community.
The expected growth in the number of the elderly, particularly the homebound, ill and those living alone will increase the demand of nutrition to the elderly (IOM, 2012). However, the home delivered meal programs are not readily available to those in need, are poorly integrated to Medicaid or Medicare. In Washington for instance, the COPES Medicaid Waiver funds home delivered meals but the beneficiaries have to sacrifice half an hour of caregiver time. The effectiveness of nutritional services, particularly the home delivered meals has been documented. Hence, this research paper comprehensively reviews evidence and data on whether home delivered meal programs improve

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