Meals on Wheels launches loneliness campaign

Meals on Wheels has launched a campaign to prevent loneliness in older people.

Meals on Wheels has launched a campaign to prevent loneliness in older people.

Meals on Wheels has launched a campaign to prevent loneliness in older people.

Les MacDonald

The organisation aims to collect 20,000 messages of support that will be delivered to clients with their Meals on Wheels delivery.

Les MacDonald, CEO of Meals on Wheels NSW says thousands of older Australians experience loneliness and isolation and the organisation is ideally placed to help.

Covid has exacerbated the situation, with research showing three out of four Australians aged 70 and over didn’t have daily contact with their family during the pandemic.

“Meals on Wheels check in with thousands of clients daily and we may be the only point of contact many of these clients would see or speak to in any given week,” Mr MacDonald said.

Social role

The initiative comes after  a study confirmed home-delivered meal services played an important social role for recipients.

The research, published in the Australasian Journal of Ageing in March, also highlighted how meal delivery services could be a way of screening for malnutrition among older people in the community.

Mr MacDonald said the findings came as no surprise for Meals on Wheels, which has been providing social interaction, friendship and care for more than 60 years.

“Whether it’s a nutritious meal delivery, a chat through the fly screen door or sharing a cuppa – Meals on Wheels   will continue to be there to support those who may be experiencing isolation or loneliness,” he said.

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Tags: les-macdonald, loneliness, meals-on-wheels,

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