Faced with declining congregate meal program participation and escalating costs the Area Agency in Washington County looked for unique ways to maintain access and provide a service that county residents would use. The average age of congregate program customers was 78 years old, and efforts by nutrition staff were not successful in engaging new seniors or boomers into the congregate program. Washington County is a rural county---traditional meal sites in one community were not accessed by people in other communities due to distance.
Discussions with seniors who used the program, as well as those that did not, revealed that traditional congregate dining was less attractive to seniors. Many of the boomers coming of age did not want to go to "my mother's meal site" or more specifically they did not want to go to the meal site with their mother. Residents of communities that did not have a traditional meal site would not travel to other communities to participate. In order to provide us with opportunities to reach these seniors with information we began looking at different ways to offer meals.
Based loosely on a model of restaurant dining in Vermont, this program allows county seniors to donate for tickets which can be redeemed at contracted restaurants for a complete meal - entrée, beverage and dessert. Restaurants agree to provide a nutritionally approved menu option for this program and are reimbursed at an agreed rate for each ticket that is redeemed at their establishment. Restaurants are also allowed to identify the times that tickets are accepted and meal availability. Copies of health department certificates and inspections are maintained and agency staff is available to support the restaurants with customer service and billing issues.
Consumers can request tickets good for 3 month periods by mail or in person. Customers are provided with an opportunity to make a voluntary donation for the tickets they request and are asked to register for the congregate dining program just as with traditional meal site participants. Not only is restaurant dining used by new clients but existing congregate and home delivered meal clients use the tickets to get meals on days they have appointments or other plans when they might otherwise miss a meal.
Clients who order tickets by mail are given printed information on a variety of subjects relative to seniors including nutrition, health and safety, volunteer opportunities and service availability. Clients are also asked to provide feed back regarding their satisfaction with specific dining experiences. Satisfaction reports completed by seniors are in turn shared with the restaurants as appropriate.
Within the first year of this program the number of participants registered for congregate dining jumped from 278 to 496 and the average age of customers dropped to 72. In general, satisfaction with this program is exceptionally high. While initially reluctant to loose the "community meal site", seniors now travel across the county to try different establishments, and many seniors are using this service regularly. They are able to move PAGE 4 around the county to different restaurants for a different experience, taking family and friends with them. As many as 16 businesses participate in this program throughout the county. Restaurant dining has come to stay in Washington County. This program provides positive evidence of the benefits of public/private partnership, not only as great customer service, but as a cost effective way of providing valued service and information to seniors.
West Village Market, Cambridge; Christ the King Spiritual Center, Greenwich; Manley's Restaurant, Hudson Falls; PJ's Cafe, Ft. Edward; Witches Kitchen, Greenwich; Sally's Hen House, Hudson Falls; AJ's Restaurant, Granville; Corner Diner, Hudson Falls; China Wok, Whitehall; Scottie's Coffee Shop, Granville; Latham's Diner, Hudson Falls; House of Pizza, Whitehall
Find out more about the program online by visiting
www.co.washington.ny.us/
