Meals on Wheels America
In 2020, the WellSky Foundation donated $50,000 to Meals on Wheels America, a national leadership organization supporting the more than 5,000 community-based programs across the U.S. that are dedicated to addressing senior isolation and hunger. This donation establishes a new joint research project and partnership between the two organizations.
Through this donation, Meals on Wheels America will collaborate with the WellSky Foundation to conduct a pilot research project designed to assist healthcare organizations in supporting older adults, particularly those transitioning from acute care settings and those facing multiple chronic health conditions.
This research project will explore how partnerships between healthcare organizations and local Meals on Wheels programs can improve senior health outcomes. This new effort will expand upon earlier efforts by Meals on Wheels America to develop and scale a technology-based process for reporting and addressing changes in the physical or mental condition of people who receive home-delivered meals.
Meals on Wheels America and the WellSky Foundation are aligned in their efforts to better understand and address key social determinants of health (SDoH) — including food insecurity and social isolation — to support the overall wellbeing of people in need, particularly older adults. This latest collaboration reflects the WellSky Foundation’s ongoing commitment to helping more seniors safely remain in their homes, regardless of their individual circumstances.
“Meals on Wheels programs provide the nutritious food, vital services, and critical community connections that enable seniors to live safely and independently in their own homes. The insights we hope to gain by partnering with the WellSky Foundation in this pilot project will help us to identify additional opportunities to facilitate senior wellness during this [COVID-19] public health emergency and beyond.”
— Ellie Hollander, President and CEO of Meals on Wheels America
