An Evolution of Pilot Nutrition Programs to Improve Diet Quality among Older Veterans
- 1UMSOM
Abstract
Despite the numerous benefits associated with higher dietary quality, many older Veterans do not meet national dietary recommendations. Existing programs are not typically tailored for older Veterans who may experience physical and environmental limitations that hinder their ability to access and prepare healthy foods. This project piloted the incorporation of age-friendly, tailored, virtual nutrition education into an existing health promotion program for older Veterans. Programming followed an iterative design process over two years. Year 1 included 14 weeks of virtual nutrition education on healthy aging paired with weekly produce bags and recipe suggestions. In Year 2, virtual nutrition education shifted to more hands-on learning emphasizing basic meal preparation and adaptive cooking strategies for mobility limitations. Produce distribution in Year 2 shifted to a farmers market model, based on feedback from year 1, allowing participants to self-select items. Primary outcomes included program satisfaction, dietary intake assessed via 24-hour recall to calculate the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015), and health-related quality of life (PROMIS Global Health). Findings demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of a virtual nutrition program incorporating age-friendly cooking instruction and adaptive strategies to improve dietary quality among older Veterans.
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BibTeX
@misc{giffuni2026evolution,
title = {{An Evolution of Pilot Nutrition Programs to Improve Diet Quality among Older Veterans}},
author = {J. Giffuni and M. Fique and S. Cassatt and K. Joyce and L. Krasniewski and O. Addison and E. Dennis},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.28.26364174},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.28.26364174v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - An Evolution of Pilot Nutrition Programs to Improve Diet Quality among Older Veterans
AU - J. Giffuni
AU - M. Fique
AU - S. Cassatt
AU - K. Joyce
AU - L. Krasniewski
AU - O. Addison
AU - E. Dennis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.28.26364174
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.28.26364174v1
AB - Despite the numerous benefits associated with higher dietary quality, many older Veterans do not meet national dietary recommendations. Existing programs are not typically tailored for older Veterans who may experience physical and environmental limitations that hinder their ability to access and prepare healthy foods. This project piloted the incorporation of age-friendly, tailored, virtual nutrition education into an existing health promotion program for older Veterans. Programming followed an iterative design process over two years. Year 1 included 14 weeks of virtual nutrition education on healthy aging paired with weekly produce bags and recipe suggestions. In Year 2, virtual nutrition education shifted to more hands-on learning emphasizing basic meal preparation and adaptive cooking strategies for mobility limitations. Produce distribution in Year 2 shifted to a farmers market model, based on feedback from year 1, allowing participants to self-select items. Primary outcomes included program satisfaction, dietary intake assessed via 24-hour recall to calculate the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015), and health-related quality of life (PROMIS Global Health). Findings demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of a virtual nutrition program incorporating age-friendly cooking instruction and adaptive strategies to improve dietary quality among older Veterans.
ER -