Many older folks unable to cook for themselves find meal delivery services for seniors to be a convenient alternative.
Meal delivery services delivery delicious, affordable, nutrient-rich meals to seniors, enabling them to maintain their independence. While family members can rest easy knowing their parents or grandparents are getting high-quality food.
Our nutrition experts have surveyed the meal delivery service landscape and determined that the following are the most important benefits of meal delivery services for seniors.
20 Benefits Of Meal Delivery Services For Seniors
Here are to 20 most important benefits of meal delivery services for seniors as determined by our experts.
1: Meal delivery services for seniors are convenient.
This is the most obvious reason seniors should consider taking advantage of meal delivery services. It’s easy to order food and prepare meal plans extending for days or even weeks. Most services accept an array of payment options. And the food comes right to your door. When you want to eat, just pop in the microwave or conventional oven and viola! Delicious, nutritious food with no prep and little cleanup.
2: A meal delivery service for seniors lends families a helping hand.
As parents get older it becomes harder to cook and the burden of care typically falls to their kids. But those kids usually have kids of their own as well as careers. Finding the time to make sure mom and dad have the nutritious food they need is not always easy. Meal delivery services for seniors can lend a hand and make sure everyone is properly taken care of.
3: Some meal delivery services for seniors are covered by Medicare Advantage.
Unfortunately, many seniors don’t take advantage of meal delivery services because they are not aware some or all of the cost may be covered by their Medicare Advantage plan (1). These plans can, and often do, provide coverage for meal deliveries as long as the person has a justifiable medical need, such as recovering from surgery, rheumatoid arthritis, or another condition.
4: Meal delivery services for seniors ensure they don’t go to bed hungry.
All too often, when seniors can’t cook for themselves, they end up going to bed hungry. Their adult children often aren’t even aware of it because, in many cases, the elderly parents don’t want to complain or seem like a burden. By arranging for regular meal deliveries, this type of scenario never has to play out.
5: Meal delivery services for seniors deliver everywhere.
The rise of the internet and next-day shipping has created a situation where no one in the US is truly isolated anymore the way many were just 30 or 40 years ago. Meal delivery services for seniors take full advantage of the new technology and the new delivery methods to bring high-quality meals to seniors in all 50 states.
6: A meal delivery service for seniors beats fast food.
Studies indicate that seniors who eat fast food twice a week (which is increasingly common these days) increase their risk of obesity and other negative health outcomes (2). Seniors often default to fast food, though, because they can’t cook and don’t feel like they have any viable alternatives. Meal delivery services for seniors can be that viable alternative.
7: Meal delivery services for seniors save you trips to the store.
Getting out to the supermarket if you have arthritis or other mobility issues isn’t always possible. That is especially true when the cold winter weather sets in. Meal delivery services for seniors can ensure that no matter how they’re feeling, or how much snow and ice is on the sidewalk, they can have the nutritious, high-quality food they need and deserve.
8: A meal delivery service for seniors can be shared by the whole family.
If you are ordering meals from a meal delivery service for yourself, why not order some for your family as well and have them over for dinner? After all, the food produced by these services is as good or better than you will get in many restaurants. If you’re ordering meals for an elderly parent, why not order some extra and arrange to dine with them a couple of times a week?
9: A meal delivery service for seniors helps those with diabetes.
As the number of older people who are overweight increases, so too does the number of senior citizens with type 2 diabetes. It’s now estimated that as many as 14 million American seniors have diabetes (3), and that number is only going to increase. Most senior meal delivery services dedicate a portion of their menu to foods specifically prepared for diabetics.
10: Meal delivery services for seniors are run by nutritionists.
Either that, or they have doctors and nutritionists on their staff, advising them regarding the specific nutritional needs of older individuals. This helps ensure that the foods they offer are rich in vital nutrients and free of the empty carbs and calories that wind up collecting around the waist and posing a risk to cardiovascular and even mental health (4).
11: A meal delivery service for seniors can help those with chewing difficulties.
There are numerous reasons why some older folks have a hard time chewing their food properly. A lack of molars, poorly designed or loose dentures, and a decrease in saliva production all play a hand. Meal delivery services for seniors offer many types of food that account for difficulty chewing and ensure everyone gets the nutrients they need.
12: Meal delivery services for seniors can help them keep their homes.
Seniors are often forced to more to assisted living facilities because they can no longer cook for themselves. Meal delivery services for seniors remove the burden of food preparation from the older person and enable them to stay in their one home where they are most comfortable.
13: A meal delivery service for seniors helps alleviate feelings of isolation.
As people age, friends die or move, children become caught up with their own families, and the elderly person gets increasingly isolated. That can have a significant impact on mental health and pose other health risks as well (5). It may not seem like much, but just knowing the meal delivery person will be coming every week can help alleviate those feelings of isolation.
14: A meal delivery service for seniors makes entertaining easy.
Just because someone is older doesn’t mean they don’t still enjoy get-togethers. But cooking for medium or large-sized groups can be a significant chore. Meal delivery services for seniors allow them to plan their events in advance and make sure there is lots of top-quality, nutritious food available for their guests.
15: Meal delivery services for seniors sometimes offer AARP discounts.
A quick check of the prices on some of the most popular senior meal delivery sites may turn some folks off, thinking that they’re just for the wealthy. But this is not the case. Some services offer discounts to AARP members. Others work with social service agencies to provide meals on a sliding scale. And others can be paid for using Medicare Advantage.
16: Meal delivery services for seniors can help seniors lose weight.
Obesity is a growing problem among the elderly (6)(7), and it can contribute to a rash of chronic illnesses that can undermine their quality of life and shorten their lifespan. Meal delivery services for seniors provide delicious, low-calorie meals that can stop weight gain in its tracks, and, in many cases, enable them to lose weight.
17: Meal delivery services for seniors take the guesswork out of portion control.
As we age, our nutritional needs change, which means the amount and types of food we need change as well. As a result, portion control often becomes a problem, with many seniors getting too much of what they don’t need and not enough of what they do. Meal delivery services for seniors have doctors and nutritionists on hand to oversee portion control.
18: Meal delivery services for seniors are essential when recovering from a fall.
According to the National Council on Aging, one in every four senior Americans falls each year (8). All told, more than 800,000 seniors wind up being hospitalized due to falls in the US each year. When these folks finally get home, they are in no condition to cook. Meal delivery services help ensure that they maintain proper nutrition, which, in turn, hastens the recovery period and helps ensure proper healing (9).
19: A meal delivery service for seniors helps them stay independent.
Most seniors have spent their entire adult lives taking care of themselves. Most have no interest in becoming dependent on others to fulfill their daily needs. Meal delivery services help independent-minded seniors maintain their autonomy while also removing the burden of care from loved ones.
20: Meal delivery services for seniors are reliable.
The meal delivery services for seniors that we chose for our list use only the best, most dependable delivery services, including FedEx and UPS. As a result, they have outstanding reputations for reliability. That reliability is crucial for the seniors who use their services.
Conclusion
Meal delivery services for seniors are a convenient way for older folks to get delicious meals made to satisfy their particular nutritional needs. Having quality food delivered to their door also allows seniors to retain their independence and feel more integrated with the world at large, while saving them trips to the supermarket when travel conditions are dangerous and enabling loved ones to sleep better.