In-Person Delivery vs. Drop Shipped: Comparing Two Ways to Provide Meals to Older Adults

This research project is in progress. 

Meals on Wheels America is collaborating with Brown University School of Public Health on a three-year research initiative to investigate the most effective mode of meal delivery to support older adults’ ability to age in place in their homes and out of institutional settings. The study is designed to compare the impact of daily Meals on Wheels home-delivered meal service — complete with social connection and a wellness check — with biweekly frozen drop-shipped meals.

The research team is conducting  a randomized control trial with the participation of local Meals on Wheels providers. Approximately 2,300 older adults currently on waiting lists for services at the selected providers are being randomly assigned to one of the two groups. The first group is receiving daily delivery of meals from Meals on Wheels five days a week, while the second is receiving a shipment of 10 frozen meals once every two weeks.

To better understand the effectiveness of each mode of meal delivery among the two groups of participants, researchers are examining differences in health care utilization, as well as healthy days in community, feelings of loneliness and overall quality of life.

External Publications

Evaluating Effects of Meal Delivery on the Ability of Homebound Older Adults to Remain in the Community via a Pragmatic, Two-Arm, Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial: Study Protocol for the Deliver-EE Trial, Thomas, K. S., Bernard, K. P., Clark, M., Dionne, L., Fisher, A., Gadbois, E., Harrison, J., Juckett, L., Locher, J., Risica, P., Sequeira, T., Theilheimer, L., & Gutman, R., Trials, 2024. 

A Protocol for Stakeholder Engagement in Deliver-EE: A Pragmatic Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Trial Evaluating Effects of Meal Delivery on the Ability of Homebound Older Adults to Remain in the Community, Harrison, J., Balkan, E., Bernard, K. P., Gadbois, E. A., & Thomas, K. S., Contemporary Clinical Trials, 2024.

Partnering With Social Service Staff to Implement Pragmatic Clinical Trials: An Interim Analysis of Implementation Strategies, Juckett, L. A., Bernard, K. P., & Thomas, K. S., Trials, 2023.