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VNA Meals on Wheels provides nutritious, hot, home-delivered meals five days a week to those who due to illness, advanced age or disability are unable to obtain or prepare their own meals. VNA serves the hidden hungry—homebound, aging and unable to access resources like food pantries and grocery stores.
The purpose of VNA Meals on Wheels is to nourish the whole person.
The program fulfills a basic food need in the community and enables seniors to age with dignity in their homes. Our goals are to improve nutrition and to provide social contact, thereby decreasing medical costs associated with malnutrition, dehydration and isolation.
In 2022, VNA hired four Community Health Workers to better serve our Meals on Wheels clients and connect more with our community. These dedicated professionals are charged with:
44%-76% of hospital readmissions are preventable.
30-day hospital readmissions are 50% higher for patients diagnosed with malnutrition.
80% of health outcomes occur outside of a clinical environment.
71% reduction in ER visits for participating patients
96% decline in unintended hospital readmissions
*The above data are the results from a partnership with a local hospital system.
Thank you to our healthcare partners for your collaboration to improve nutrition and health for our homebound seniors.
Last year, more than 1.2 million home-delivered meals were prepared in VNA’s kitchen for homebound seniors in Dallas County and another 2,000 were served daily at various senior centers.
According to the Aging Services Network, food insecure seniors are 50% more likely to have diabetes, three times more likely to suffer from depression, 60% more likely to have a heart attack, and two times as likely to report asthma.
Based on a PwC impact study, VNA Meals on Wheels saves an estimated $10.4 million annually in health costs collectively across 4,700 clients analyzed. In the same study, our clients reported a 25% reduction in feelings of isolation and loneliness as compared with those not receiving meals.
VNA Meals on Wheels facilitates client referral needs by partnering with agencies including but not limited to: Adult Protective Services, the Dallas Area Agency on Aging, The Senior Source, and Texas Health and Human Services.
Please note VNA Meals on Wheels provides service for Dallas County residents only.
If you have a patient who can benefit from VNA Meals on Wheels, please contact us for assistance.
A list of surrounding Meals on Wheels locations outside of Dallas County are provided below. Additional Meals on Wheels locations may also be found by visiting www.MOWAA.org.
The focus of VNA Meals on Wheels Community Care Check is to address the unmet clinical needs of our Meals on Wheels population to help them age safely at home.
Our care team contacts high-risk Meals on Wheels clients and screen them for essential health care needs including social work interventions, home health, hospice or palliative care. Any identified needs are discussed with the client and their current provider to best coordinate care. For more information about health care partnerships, please contact Jennifer Austin at (214) 689-2265.
For more information on Meals on Wheels partnerships, contact Jennifer Atwood Austin at 214-689-2265 or jennifer.austin@vnatexas.org.