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# Looking to Innovate!
Find out how Innovations in Nutrition Programs and Services (INNU) grantees are successfully improving participant well-being and creating cost-savings for programs. Learn how to replicate these projects in your own community! 
Looking to Innovate? Start Here!
Looking to start your own innovative project? Take a look at what past and current INNUgrantees are doing and use the replication guides to get started.
- Innovations in Nutrition Programs and Services  — Background of the INNU program  and funded grantee project descriptions   - Grantee Spotlight 
- What is Innovation? Part Discipline, Part Creativity, All Possible   - Summary brief  — Short guide to the four basic steps to innovation
  - Extended brief  — Full and descriptive guide to understand innovation and apply  this practice to your organization 
- Imagining an Innovative and Sustainable Future Through Creative Thinking   - Innovations 101 Training Series (2019)  — The big WHY and HOW of innovation  and getting started with your own innovation process
  - Practical Applications in Creative Ideation  — Intensive workshop
  - Launching Your Innovation Journey  — Roadmap for success that lays out advancing projects, accountability, next steps, and more 
Capstone Projects
At the end of an INNU grant, the grantee organization creates a Capstone Project to help others replicate their work. The Capstone Projects are meant to inspire and provide a “how-to” guide to make innovation easy to implement for all.
Technology Solution- Improving Nutrition and Health of Rural Older Adults Following Hospital Discharge
-  Improved nutrition and health through AI technology, meals, and nutrition counseling following hospital discharge.    - Executive Summary
  - Capstone Project
  - Appendices 
- Connecting Seniors to Care: Implementing Amazon Alexa Technology into the Homes of Meals on Wheels Clients
-  Investigated the ways Amazon Alexa technology can support the social determinants of health together with Meals on Wheels deliveries to improve health outcomes, reduce isolation, and provide innovations to support the principles of aging in place.    - Executive Summary
  - Capstone Project
  - Appendices   
- Improving Client Service Through Advanced Data-Card Technology
-  Deployed AI-enabled speakers into homes to increase nutrition access.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- Modernizing Home-Delivered Meals Through Frozen Meals and a Web-Based App
-  Developed meal delivery software application for the aging population at risk of food insecurity.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- East Harlem Village: Fostering Cross-Sector Partnerships and Raising Community Voices to Address Food Insecurity and Social Isolation Among Older Adults in NYC
-  Established a technology-based network of services to address food insecurity and social isolation.    - Executive Summary
  - Capstone Project
  - Appendices 
 Malnutrition and Food Insecurity - Tackling Malnutrition Through a Statewide Delivery System
-  Introduced evidence-based practices and innovative meals to expand services to the aging population.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- Offering Nutrition-Focused Diabetes Self-Management
-  Improved health outcomes and reduced health care costs for the aging population with Type 2 diabetes.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- Increasing Use of Community-Based Resources by Food-Insecure Seniors
-  Designed a closed-loop referral system to increase accessibility to community-based resources for food insecure patients.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- Your Health, Your Way, Your Table
-  *Implementation of an Improved Collaborative Malnutrition-Focused Transitions of Care and Referral Process Based on Identified Gaps between Healthcare Entities and Aging Services*  Enhanced community malnutrition transitions of care for recently discharged home-delivered meal recipients at risk for malnutrition through interventions provided through registered dietitian nutritionists home visitations.    - Executive Summary
  - Capstone Project
  - Appendices 
- SixtyPLUS: How Meals-on-Wheels Redefines Population Health
-  Partnered with local fire/EMS departments, combined registered dietitian services with home-delivered meals, and implemented the Home Care Frailty Scale.    - Executive Summary
  - Appendices
  - Capstone Project 
Health Care Partnerships- Assessing Malnutrition Risk through a Home Visitation Program
-  Explored health outcomes of recently discharged home-delivered meal recipients at risk of malnutrition.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- Addressing Ability to Eat with Modified Meals
-  Improved the effectiveness of home-delivered meals to promote oral health and dental care.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- WeCare ServicesTM Personal Health Nursing for Seniors Receiving Title III Home-Delivered Meals
-  Improved the health and well-being of homebound seniors.    - Executive Summary
  - Capstone Project
  - Appendices 
Congregate and Café Dining- Collaborating with Community Partners on a Congregate Meal Delivery Model
-  Created the “Encore Cafe” to increase congregate meal program participation.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- Increasing Choice Through a Flexible, Technology-Driven Meal Program
-  Increased confidence and decreased social isolation for meal site participants by providing flexibility in how and where they dine.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- Texas Congregate Meal Initiative
-  Modernized local congregate programs through a learning collaborative model to improve well-being, expand benefits, and impact older Texans’ health outcomes.    - Executive Summary
  - Capstone Project
  - Appendices 
- Improving Heart Health Through Diet, Education, and Self-Efficacy
-  Combined educational, social, behavioral, and nutrition interventions (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension [DASH] diet) to decrease blood pressure throughout congregate meal sites.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
- The Iowa Cafe: AAA and Restaurant Partnerships
-  Established restaurant partnerships to modernize congregate meal infrastructure, delivery mechanisms and outreach, increasing the number of consumers and meals served.    - Capstone Executive Summary
  - Capstone Report
  - Appendix A: Guide for AAAs
  - Appendix B: Guide for Partners 
Mental Health- Supporting Older Adults at Risk of Suicide Through Nutrition Services
-  Created a suicide intervention program for nutrition services volunteers to support the aging population with elevated suicide risk or mental health distress.    - Capstone Summary & Appendices 
 Presentations- Using Data Effectively in Federal Grant Applications (YouTube) — Tips and practical examples to use data to meet an application's goals and objectives   - Using Data Effectively in Federal Grant Applications Slides
  - Using Data Effectively in Federal Grant Applications Online Data Resources 
- Innovations in Nutrition Programs and Services Updates (Apr 2020)   - Part 1
  - Part 2 
Related topics- Creativity and Innovation
- Replication Models

*Last modified on 01/11/2024*
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ACL funds the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center to build the capacity of senior nutrition programs funded by the Older Americans Act to provide high-quality, person-centered services and enhance program sustainability and resiliency.
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