Food and Friends: Healthy Meals Delivered to You

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if home delivered healthy meals (HDHM) with or without (intervention vs. control) social interaction can impact mental health and food security in adults aged 65 and older who live alone and have trouble accessing food.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does HDHM with or without social interaction change the quality of participant food intake? Does HDHM with or without social interaction change the loneliness that participants may experience? Does HDHM with or without social interaction change the depression that participants may experience?

Researchers will compare a group that receives HDHM only to a group that receives HDHM and social interaction to see if there is a difference between the two groups in their experienced loneliness and depression, and the quality of food that they eat.

Participants will receive 12 weeks' worth of HDHM delivered to their home. Half of the participants will receive weekly phone calls from volunteer student "companions) Participants will also be asked to complete questionnaires over the phone at three timepoints (baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks) during the study. Some participants may also be asked to give their opinions on the program via a telephone conversation.

Conditions

• Mental Health Issue
• Food Insecurity

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Home Delivered Healthy Meals

In-person delivery of HDHM at least one time weekly for 12 weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

In-person "friendly visits"

"Friendly visits" last approximately 5-10 minutes and include brief "wellness check" questions such as, "How are you doing today?" "Did you try \[HDHM recipe\] yesterday- how did it taste? Any suggestions for future flavors?" "What are some of the things you plan to do in the next few days?" "Is there anything else you want to share with me?"

BEHAVIORAL

Student Companion calls

Student Companions call participants at least one time weekly to provide telephone reassurance- i.e., checking on the participant's well-being. These calls may also include referrals to appropriate resources such as NCCARE 360 (statewide network that connects individuals with complex health and social needs, to community resources and service)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Humana Foundation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Lindsey Haynes-Maslow, PhD, MHA · University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-08-14

Primary Completion

2024-11-15

Completion

2024-11-15

Countries

• United States

Study Locations