Older Adults Living Wise & Well

Food insecurity and access to basic needs

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

California’s high rate of older adult poverty—about 20% for 65+, using the Supplemental Poverty Index—is 2x as high for Black, Indigenous, and Latino older adults. Though often overlooked, older adults are the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population. In Los Angeles County, 14% of older adults are below the poverty line, but many more are at risk: 37% of people 65+ don’t have enough income to meet their basic needs.
During and since the pandemic, the number and the percentage of older adults (55+) coming to MEND grew markedly. Many older adults are challenged by fixed incomes and rising costs, but those we serve—mostly low-income immigrant Latinos—lack traditional sources of retirement income: employer pensions, social security, and individual savings. Their restricted circumstances affect their health and cause hunger. They can’t afford the healthy foods, gym memberships, health counseling, and social clubs that would improve their health outcomes.

To meet these needs, MEND developed Living Wise & Well (LWW) in 2023. This holistic service combines healthy food, health literacy, exercise, and social connection. Thirty to fifty low-income older adults now spend an hour in exercise or interactive health education, customized to their language, physical capacity, and general/health literacy levels. Presenters ask and answer questions and provide take-home language-appropriate materials to share with family and friends. Another forty to seventy individuals come just for the food distribution, which is targeted to older adult needs. Foods offered are more nutrient-dense, low-sodium, low-fat, sugar-free, and softer (yogurt, unsweetened applesauce). Low-fat proteins include fish, chicken, and legumes, and fresh fruits/vegetables are plentiful. Starting this month, participants are selecting their own food from the same tailored assortment, taking exactly what they want, need, and can carry (averaging 22-24 pounds/person), without standing in the long line of our larger food distribution.
Repeat attendance and survey and focus group responses demonstrate local interest in the program. When insufficient incomes are depleted by rent/transportation/healthcare and peer interactions are limited by mobility challenges and distance (family and friends are out of the country, for example), our participants are hungry for healthy food, excited about exercise, and comforted by repeat connections to the same people.

MEND’s long-term vision for underserved low-income older adults meets immediate food-security needs and goes beyond to encompass preventive health knowledge and practice. Old-age issues loom for everyone but are particularly acute for low-income people. Everywhere, most older adults want to continue to live in their communities as they age, but few aging-in-place programs address low-income immigrants’ overlapping needs. Tailored to this constituency, LWW’s forward-looking interventions address multiple social determinants of health: hunger, better nutrition, exercise, and social connection. To widen our scope, MEND anticipates transitioning LWW to weekly programming, which will allow us to add and test new elements, including health insurance enrollment, mental health (stress reduction, mindfulness, connections to deeper services), and cooking demonstrations that acknowledge many ingredients’ indigenous American origins—tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, beans, potatoes, and more.

Impact measures are based on elements of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy People 2030 and California’s Master Plan for Aging, including increasing food security*, fruit/vegetable consumption, frequency/duration of physical exercise*, social connections, and health insurance enrollment* [* = Leading Health Indicator]. We will measure pre- and post-program impact and track increased health literacy (i.e., nutrition and chronic disease prevention). For aggregate data and to track program growth, we count registered participants, number and type of activities, weight of food distributed, engaged partners, and number of insurance and resource connections. We collect demographics on the population served, while surveys and focus groups inform us about participant needs and potential service gaps. Reports of participant satisfaction (reduced hunger, improved physical and mental health, and overall quality of life) will measure LWW program success.