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Grant Project Name

Ex: The Iowa Café: AAA and Restaurant Partnerships (DO NOT write just the Grant Project Name, instead, 

include a catchy title of the project so readers know what the project was about) 

Principle Investigator (include credentials, title organization)

Ex: Alexandra Bauman, RD, LDN, Division Director of Nutrition and Wellness at the Iowa Department on Aging 

and Director at the National Resource Center on Nutrition & Aging 

Authors (include credentials, titles and organizations)

*Keep all fonts and size fonts the same as seen throughout the document 

Date of Report

Ex: July 15, 2022

ACL Disclaimer: “This project was supported, in part by grant number 90XX####, from the Administration 

for Community Living, U.S. 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.”
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Table of Contents

Background and Purpose....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Partners and Project Staff....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

Funding and Sustainability....................................................................................................................................................................................................6

Recruitment.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8

Tools ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................10

Project Timeline..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................11

Frequently Asked Questions ...............................................................................................................................................................................................12

Advice for Replication..............................................................................................................................................................................................................14

Appendix List...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................15
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Background and Purpose

A. Goal: (1-2 sentences)

Ex: The goal of the project is to modernize Iowa’s congregate meal program infrastructure, delivery 

mechanisms, and outreach to increase the number of consumers and meals served.

B. Objectives: (Bullet point format)

Ex:

1) Establishing a restaurant partnership infrastructure in the Elderbridge AAA service region

2) Developing flexible approaches to congregate meal service delivery mechanisms to target and 

outreach to two generations of older adults

3) Modernizing a streamlined intake process through technology use

4) Identifying seniors who may be food insecure, socially isolated, and rural and providing nutrition 

education.

C. Overview of Project: (3-5 sentences; paragraph format)

Ex: The Iowa Department on Aging in partnership with Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) received a 2020 

Administration for Community Living Nutrition Innovations Grant to modernize Iowa’s Congregate 

Meal Program infrastructure. The Iowa Café project will transform traditional congregate meal sites 

to attractive restaurant partnership sites for older adults to gather and enjoy nutritious meals. This 

will be a mutually beneficial project for Iowa’s food insecure older adults and local communities to 

generate economic stimulus.

D. Project Results: (3-5 sentences; paragraph format or bullet point format. Visuals-graphs, 

Images encouraged)

• County 1 had 20 participants before the grant and 80 participants after the grant 

• NEI3A (AAA): Served 48,000 meals during the timespan of the grant 

• 95% of participants showed a decrease in social isolation 
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Figure A. Demonstrates the increase of restaurant partnerships per year with The Iowa Department on 

Aging for the grant. 

Figure B. Demonstrates the number of meals each restaurant served over the course of the grant period.

18%

29%

53%

Increase in Restaurant Partnerships per 

Year

1st year 2nd year 3rd year

10050

12598

25638

9038

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

Bob's Café BBQ Bills The Corner Resturant Shrimp Shack

# of Meals per Restaurant
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Partners and Project Staff

A. Partners: (Bullet point format; 1 sentence per partner)

• Ex: April’s Downtown Diner (restaurant): Diner is in a rural area which was targeted in the 

grant proposal. 

• Menlo Café (restaurant): Café caters to a large culturally diverse population and the need for 

a meal site in Menlo (city in Iowa) was highly requested. 

• XYZ Hospital: Clinical Partnership indicated to obtain malnutrition referrals from physicians. 

B. Project Staff Roles: 

a. List number of FTEs

• Ex: 5 FTEs 

b. List staff title and general responsibilities (Bullet point format; 1-2 sentences per staff role)

• Ex: Project Manager: Oversight of entire project including: develop and monitor contracts, 

monthly contact with project partners, communicate with NRCNA/ACL monthly as required, 

maintain IRB approval

• Project Dietitian: Provide 1:1 MNT to clients, provide group education classes, carry out cooking 

classes, content development

c. Can include organizational chart for innovation project (DO NOT include general organizational 

chart for agency)

Alex Bauman, RD, LDN

Project Director 

Danielle Crail, RD, LD

AAA Nutrition Director

Sally Mary, RD, LD

Part-time RD
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Funding and Sustainability

A. Initial Funding: 

• Ex: 2020 Administration for Community Living Nutrition Innovations Grant 

• In Kind Match including: volunteer time to prepare food boxes, student time to create exercise 

videos, utilizing space from a local restaurant kitchen, 0.2 FTE state-funded project director 

salary time 

B. Continued Funding: 

• Ex: Partnership/sponsorship with XYZ

• Fee for service

• Federal and state funding 

• In-kind match from local and community partners 

*List specific funding sources (ex: donations, hospital reimbursement, Title 3C, etc.)

*Include meal reimbursement rate for service (if applicable)

C. Sustainability: 

• Ex: Embedding project roles into job descriptions 

• Continued use of screening tools

*No more than 1.5 pages
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Funding and Sustainability Continued (As needed)

*No more than 1.5 pages
8 

Recruitment 

A. Participants

a. List Requirements

• Ex: Older Americans Act nutrition program participants age 60+

• Resident of low-income senior housing setting

b. What recruitment methods were used?

Successful: 

• Ex: Client testimonials in marketing pieces: The testimonials demonstrated the impact the 

project had on the participant’s life. This stood out as one of the top marketing methods in 

attracting and retaining participants. 

• Rolling recruitment: allowed for continuous recruitment. Participants were not deterred to 

enter the study due to wait time. 

• Utilizing CHW for gain referrals: Once the CHW understood the project and were trained on 

how to refer; referrals increased dramatically. They work closely with XYZ clients and were 

able to easily identify candidates for the project. 

Not successful:

• Ex: Defined cohorts: If participants had too long to wait between initial contact and initiation 

of the next cohort, they tended not to respond to the communication regarding cohort start. 

• University of Iowa Clinic (Physician Clinic): The clinic decided they did not have the capacity 

to continue to provide referrals for potential participants given the Covid-19 pandemic. 

B. Volunteers or Students, if used

a. List Requirements

• Ex: Age criteria: 21+

• 1-year commitment to program once trained 

• Trained in XYZ program 

• Meet with Project Manager 1x/month

b. What recruitment methods were used? What was successful or not successful? 

Successful: 

• Ex: Expanding age-related requirements: Initially the study called for participants of the same 

age 60+. This age population was a difficult target regarding volunteering. 

• Presentations at local universities regarding volunteering for this project 
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Recruitment Continued

Not successful: 

• Ex: Training schedule. All volunteers did not prefer early morning (7-9 am) training sessions. 

To accommodate this, training sessions were moved to early afternoon sessions (1-3 pm) 

• One-year training commitment to program: for many individuals screened to be a volunteer, 

this was too large of a time commitment. Unfortunately, this time commitment cannot be 

adjusted at this time. 

*Other Ex: Recruiting in general or specific populations (communities/ ethnic/ diverse/ chronic disease, etc); 

Referral Pathways (please include charts/graphics if available)

C. Marketing Tips

Successful:

• Ex: The local newspaper heard about this project and reached out to the grantee team to 

feature it in an article. This one article lead to 30 client leads. 

• “We miss you” mailings: this encouraged those who had not been to a meal site recently to 

come back. 

Not successful: 

• Ex: Marketing at local farmer’s market booth. The days the grantee was present at the market, 

there was minimum foot traffic 

*Other Ex: word of mouth, Facebook Ads, Mailing lists, etc. Can include images and examples to reference in 

Appendix

*No more than two pages
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Tools

A. Technology 

• Ex: SeniorDine: is a program that tracks participant meals using a credit card-style card or 

keychain style card. Each time a participant eats a meal, the card will be scanned at the 

foodservice establishment. SeniorDine has the capabilities to track whether the meal is Dine In or 

Grab and Go.

• iPad Air (5th generation): This was provided to participants for 8 weeks in order to log their daily 

intake in the XYZ application. 

• XYZ application: description.

 

*Other Ex: WellSky Data System, REDCap; Alexa, Tablets, Zoom Access, etc. 

B. Resources 

• Ex: Automatic paper folder: this was used to fold educational materials for participant binders. 

This allowed staff to focus their time on more pertinent tasks of the project. 

*Other Ex: Grocery delivery systems (Instacart, Uber), memberships, etc.

*No more than one page 
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Project Timeline

2019

Format: Divide each year up by months or by seasons; ex: August, September-November, Summer & Fall, 

Winter; bullet point format

Ex: 

May 2019

• Wrote grant proposal for 2020 ACL Innovations in Nutrition Grant

• Obtained Letters of Commitment from project partners 

September 2020

• Received ACL Innovations in Nutrition Grant

• Obtained IRB approval 

Fall & Winter 2020

• Opened 3 Iowa Café sites 

2020

2021

2022

*Include only highpoints of project that were necessary (ex: signing of MOU, submit for IRB approval, 

conducted surveys for four months, analyze data, contracted with 6 partners, etc.)

*Maximum of 2 pages
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Frequently Asked Questions

*List 10 questions and responses 

Ex: 

Q: Can a participant come in and eat with family or friends that are not eligible for congregate meals?

A: Yes, a participant can dine in with other non-eligible persons. If they are not eligible, they must pay the 

full price of the meal.
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Frequently Asked Questions Continued (As needed)

Q: What if a participant will not fill out intake form?

A: The intake or registration forms are required for funding purposes. If a participant will not complete 

intake form, please refer to the agency.

*No more than 2 pages
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Advice for Replication

*List up to 5 pieces of advice. As appropriate, indicate quotes 

Ex: “Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box and try something new. Chances are, your current business 

model is already dated. We need to meet the needs of older adults in 2022, but we also need to continue to 

look ahead to meet the needs of older adults five years, ten years, and 20 years from now. Think about if and 

how you are prepared to do that.

“Also, partnerships are extremely important. We rely on all of our partners for success (AAAs, restaurants, 

chambers of commerce, grocery stores, local newspapers, etc).” 

-Alexandra Bauman, RD LDN | Division Director, Nutrition & Wellness | Iowa Department on Aging

* No more than 1-page total
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Appendix List

*Label Appendices A, B, C, etc. 

Provide the title of the material and include a one sentence descriptor of each material 

Ex: 

A. Title of Material. One sentence descriptor of material. 

B. The Iowa Café Guide for Area Agencies on Aging: This guide provides specific guidance for how to run an 

Iowa Café 

*Include only materials someone replicating your project could use. (ex: marketing materials, flyers, 

newspaper press release, Valpak ad, radio ad, logo images of swag materials, business cards, survey 

questions, journal publications grantee published with grant funding, menus, recipe cards, salad bar guides, 

how-to-guides, processes guides, example contracts, educational materials, trainings (can link), example 

welcome letters to participants, intake forms, disclosure forms, checklists helpful for administering project’s 

program, sample letters/emails for specific project purposes, volunteer toolkits, policy and procedure 

manuals, etc.)

*DO NOT include items that would NOT be helpful with replicating your project (ex: INCLUDE: A presentation 

to train staff. DO NOT INCLUDE: A presentation regarding an overview of the project). Other examples NOT to 

include: general communications, presentations regarding the project, draft forms of products (only include 

finished/final products)

*How to submit the Capstone Report: 

1. One document: Capstone Report with Appendix list (Word Document)

2. Appendix Materials/Attachments in final form: Provide each material as a separate attachment (ex: PDF, 

Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Videos, etc.)