2023, November 

Nutrition and Aging 

Resource Center: 

A Year in Review 

The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, previously the Iowa Department on Aging, in 

partnership with Iowa State University, reflects on its second year of hosting the Nutrition and Aging 

Resource Center. Highlights and successes listed below. 

Reached 203,536 people 

The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center met its goal to increase the number 

of individuals reached on social media and communications platforms 

through targeted messaging and an outreach plan. The Nutrition and Aging 

Resource Center reached an estimated 203,536 individuals (of which some 

may be duplicative) via social channels and platforms. 

If you have not yet followed the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center on 

your favorite social media channel, please follow today at the QR code. 

Also, subscribe to the bimonthly newsletter to ensure you never miss a new 

resource or connection opportunity! 

Published 101 New Resources 

These resources were created and targeted based on the results of the 

2022 Nutrition and Aging Resource Center Needs Assessment. Resources 

created include full guides, infographics, social media toolkits, quick guides, 

webinars, ready-to-use materials, and quickinars. A few highlighted items 

are listed below: 

Instructional Campus on Aging Nutrition (ican!): 

ican! is a series of interactive, study-at-your-own-pace online 

training modules covering a wide array of topics relevant to Older 

Americans Act (OAA) nutrition programs including: 

• Basics of the Older Americans Act nutrition program 

• Participation, Promotion, and Partnerships 

• Reaching Older Adults at Greatest Economic and Social Need 

• Nutrition, Health and Wellness Needs 

• Operating a Nutrition Services Program: Volunteer and Employee Management 

The targeted audience for the modules includes Area Agencies on Aging, local service providers, State 

Units on Aging, congregate and home delivered meal programs’ staff and volunteers, Registered Dietitians, 

and all those who interact with older adults living in the community. Participants receive a certificate of

completion at the end of each module, and modules are less than 30 minutes in length. 

Institutional vs Innovative: Meal Site Metamorphosis: 

A resource and Quickinar playlist with ideas and tips to optimize the meal site environment and improve 

overall participation were created by the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center. The succeeding webinar 

produced using Mentimeter was a hit and highlighted the new resources. Participants played a game 

of “Jeopardy” and new things were learned by all (takeaways)! The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center 

helped the network feel more comfortable with taking its congregate meal sites from “drab” to “fab”. 
2023 Summer Webinar Series: Evaluation: 

Evaluation is an important tool that ensures programming 

aligns with goals, leverages funding, builds partnerships, 

supports equity, and maintains program effectiveness. Four 

webinars were hosted by experts in the evaluation field. 

These experts shared emerging best practices on leveraging 

data for grant application and to strengthen partnerships 

and provide person-centered services such as culturally 

diverse menu planning. Almost one-half (46%) of attendees 

responded that the webinars were their first encounter with 

training sponsored by the Nutrition and Aging Resource. The 

webinars were well received with a satisfaction rating of 

4.6 out of 5 stars. Attendees also stated a high intention on 

carrying out recommended action steps (avg 4.7 score out 

of 7), and most indicated positive attitudes that taking the 

action steps would be beneficial and a good idea (avg 5.5 

score out of 7). 

Network Spotlights: 

New and exciting things are constantly developing 

all over the nation in the nutrition and aging field. The 

Nutrition and Aging Resource Center is working to highlight 

individuals implementing out-of-the-box ideas into their 

Senior Nutrition Program. The Network Spotlight videos 

are featured monthly in the Nutrition and Aging Resource 

Center newsletter and show that change can be scary 

but exciting and, more importantly, possible! The videos 

are meant to be short, fresh, and engaging. They are 

meant to inspire the viewer to incorporate a similar idea 

or take action on ideas they had been considering. The 

videos also help build connection within the network for 

individuals wanting to try similar things in their states and 

communities. During the past year, more than 1,325 views of 

the network spotlights were shared via the newsletter and 

Instagram Reels. 

In the News 

The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center partnered with 

the National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services 

Programs (NANASP). An article published by the Associated 

Press brought national attention to the benefits of restaurantbased aging nutrition programs. 

Hosted a Malnutrition Learning 

Collaborative 

The Nutrition and Aging Nutrition Center partnered with 

NANASP to host a learning collaborative for state units 

on aging. Subject matter experts worked with 10 states to 

incorporate malnutrition prevention in their state plans. 
Redesigned the Website 

The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center worked 

tirelessly over the past year to re-organize all 

resources on the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center 

website to make it user-friendly and the “go-to” 

resource for the senior nutrition program network. 

I am really enjoying the Nutrition and Aging Resource 

Center website updates! SO much easier to 

navigate with the updated subject headings. I use it 

constantly. – Anonymous 

Highlighted Innovations in Nutrition 

Grantees 

The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center is the technical 

assistance center for all Innovations in Nutrition Programs 

& Services grantees. Over one dozen new resources were 

published specifically for grantees this past year, new 

replication guides were published for all completed grants, 

17 Lightning Talks (short highlight videos) were published 

about grant projects, and the second annual conference for 

grantees was held May 23-24, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. The 

theme was “Howdy, Partner! How to Make Partnerships Work 

for You,” and hosted incredible speakers and workshops. 

Attendees reported positive feedback and were satisfied with 

the conference, and attendees plan to utilize learnings in 

their work. 

Presented Nationally 

The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center team presented at six 

national conferences and three state/local conferences and also 

held three poster presentations at national conferences. Overall, 

surveys showed familiarity with the Nutrition and Aging Resource 

Center, the Senior Nutrition Program, and each session’s main 

content increased significantly after presentations. Conference 

session satisfaction ratings averaged 4.6 out of five stars. Some 

quotes from attendees were: 

• “It was great!! I love the hands-on and round table talk! It’s working no need to change it” 

• This was one of the best sessions I’ve attended. I loved the small group setting. This made asking 

questions much easier and less intimidating.” 

Nutrition Innovations: 

The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center has specific goals which include, but are not limited to providing 

impactful and responsive technical assistance to ACL and INNU grantees, and to act as an advocate for 

nutrition programs to ensure the network’s strength and sustainability. Combining these two goals into one 

spot on the website was achieved during the past year with the “Nutrition Innovations” bucket added to the 

home page of the Nutrition and Aging Resource Center website. The Nutrition and Aging Resource Center 

team reorganized resources with INNU grantees, Capstone Projects, and other innovative projects into three 

sections within Nutrition Innovation. The aging network is impacted as they now have a clear place on the 

website to go that is broken into three sections; Grantee Spotlights, Looking to Innovate, and Managing an 

INNU Grant. These pages provide resources for current Innovation in Nutrition grantees to manage their 

grants, and it includes resources for all organizations to replicate these innovative projects. 

This project was supported in part by grant number 90PPNU0002 from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human 

Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and 

conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.