Evaluating nutrition risk factors and other determinants of use of an urban congregate meal program by older African Americans.

Rapid growth in both the number of older U.S. adults and diversity in the population suggests increased and disparate demands for nutrition services. Funded by the Older Americans Act (OAA), the primary purpose of congregate meal services is to keep older Americans nutritionally secure and living independently in the community. Understanding characteristics that influence older African Americans' use of congregate meal services is important for development of culturally sensitive networks and program policies. With a sample of 151 community-dwelling older African Americans, a descriptive exploratory design was used to explore predisposing, enabling, and need characteristics that influence use of a congregate meal service and to examine the relationship between nutritional risk and service use. Provider-oriented structural enablers (awareness and transportation) that promote or impinge on elderly persons' use of a congregate meal service were also examined. Multivariate analysis indicated that among program participants, nutrition risk and living arrangement had significant influence on service use. Additionally, nutrition risk was higher among respondents who did not participate in congregate meal service compared to their participant counterparts.