Seniors who don’t cook can turn to various meal delivery services
Dear Savvy Senior: Can you recommend some good healthy meal delivery options for seniors who don’t cook or get out much? My 80-year-old father has a terrible diet and I worry about his health. — Concerned Daughter
Dear Concerned: There are a variety of healthy meal delivery options that can help noncooking seniors who live at home.
Here are some options:
>> Community programs: Find out if there is a senior home delivery meal program in your dad’s area. Meals on Wheels is the largest program that most people are familiar with, but many communities offer similar programs sponsored by other organizations.
To find services available in your dad’s area, visit mealsonwheelsamerica.org, which offers a comprehensive directory on its website, or call the aging agency near your dad. In Hawaii, call the Executive Office on Aging at 808-586-7297. Call the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 for other areas.
Most home-delivered meal programs across the U.S. deliver hot meals daily or several times a week to seniors over age 60 who have problems preparing meals for themselves, as well as those with disabilities. Weekend meals, usually frozen, may be available, along with food tailored for special diets.
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Most of these programs typically charge a small fee (usually between $2 and $9 per meal) or request a donation, while some may be free to low-income seniors who qualify for Medicaid. There are also some Medicare Advantage plans that offer limited meal service benefits.
>> Meal companies: Another option is to order your dad pre-made meals online from a meal delivery service company. These companies provide a wide variety of tasty meal choices and will usually post the nutrition information for their meals on their website. Some cater to dietary and medical needs.
Food is either fresh or frozen, and prices generally start at around $12 plus delivery fees.
A few Hawaii meal services include Aina Meals (ainameals.com), Good Clean Food (gcfhawaii.com), Malama Meals Oahu (malamamealsoahu.com), 808 Meal Prep (808meal prephi.com) and The Happy Bento (thehappybento.com). Inquire about home delivery and pickup locations.
One national meal delivery company, Mom’s Meals (momsmeals.com), works with Medicaid and Medicare to help reduce costs; ask if it works with Medicare Advantage plans.
>> Restaurant delivery: Depending on where your dad lives, he could use a delivery service like ubereats.com, doordash.com or grubhub.com for meals from his favorite restaurants.
Jim Miller is a contributor to NBC-TV’s “Today” program and author of “The Savvy Senior.” Send your questions to Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070; or visit savvysenior.org.