This means that the person has great difficulty leaving home due to poor health or other limitations. Volunteers deliver the meals. The main purpose of Meals on Wheels is to prepare and deliver meals to home-bound people. Usually, however, the person delivering the meal spends a few minutes talking to the person getting the meal. Having a visitor to the home is a secondary advantage of the program.
Most programs charge a small fee for the meals.
Some programs have sliding fees based on ability to pay. Meals on Wheels in your area may receive funding from the local United Way, churches, government funding, or grants. For further information on home delivered meals or other meal programs in your area call your Area Agency on Aging. Written by Carolyn Norrgard, RNC, BA, MEd, and Carol Matheis-Kraft, PhD, RNC, for iMcKesson Clinical Reference Products. Published by iMcKesson Clinical Reference Products.