Nutrition students help conduct study on the efficiency of Meals on Wheels

Fort Worth, TX

12/15/2009

By: Christina Greene, Schieffer School of Journalism

TCU nutrition professor Gina Hill and five sophomore nutrition majors are conducting a study to determine the nutritional value of Meals on Wheels.

Meals on Wheels is the oldest and largest elderly meal-providing nonprofit organization in the United States. The study is directed at new Meals on Wheels clients, who are 60 years or older and live in Tarrant County.

There are two steps involved in the study. The hands-on portion of the study performs and compares two nutritional screening tool surveys with about 300 people who have nutritional risk factors. Second, 150 of the 300 clients will be split into two control groups for a 90-day period.

The first control group will be provided with the meals only, whereas the second control group will be provided the meals and two Ensure drinks a day. At the start and end of the period, the clients will be measured for their height, weight, quality of life questionnaire and handgrip strength test.

TCU sophomores—Mirta Parra, Loran Lane, Kathleen Whitten, Stephanie Luce and Lauren Wanner—are the five nutrition majors dedicating their time and efforts to this study. All of the students majoring in nutrition were given a brief explanation about the research study and then invited to a meeting in order to learn more about the study. While each of the five students who decided to participate have their individual reasons, the general reason of all the students was to gain experience, especially in the field of dietetics.

Lauren Wanner from St. Louis described this aspiration when she said, “I basically chose to do this project because I have had my heart set on majoring in dietetics since I started high school, and this is a great way to get my ‘foot in the door’ and gain experience in the field.”

So far, the students have spent their time putting together confidentiality packages containing consent forms that the participants of research study must sign. Selected participants are Meals on Wheels clients who are chosen based on the criteria of the study and agree to participate. Prospective participants are new home clients of Meals on Wheels who are 60 years or older, live in Tarrant County and have nutritional risk factors. The students made sure to have these packages sent out by Nov. 6 in order to begin conducting the research study.

Parra, a bilingual nutrition major, said, “I got involved first of all because the nutrition department requires you to do a research project in order to graduate. When this opportunity came around, it seemed very interesting and I thought I could lend an extra helping hand not only to the English community but also the Spanish community by being bilingual.”

In the nutrition major, the competition for the Coordinated Program (CP) has encouraged many nutrition students like these to gain experience early to help boost their resumes and likelihood of acceptance, agreed the researchers.

Loran Lane, from Mansfield, Texas, thinking about her competitive advantage, said, “When we were first told about the study, we were told that we would be working with a huge organization and if the study goes as planned, we could be published. This sparked my interest because as sophomores, we apply for the CP program in the spring and this could tremendously help my resume and could be counted as an internship as well.”

Kathleen Whitten, from Houston, also felt that the Meals on Wheels research study was too good of an opportunity to pass up, not only because of its familiarity, but because it is an organization that has helped millions of people.

“As a nutrition major, I wanted to get out in the field to get experience, especially as a sophomore and to have this experience by the time I am a senior,” Whitten said.

After the confidentiality packages are received from the prospective participants with their permission to conduct the research study, the students, Dr. Hill and the Meals on Wheels staff will be able to begin the two-step study. By helping with the research study, the students will be able to gain hands-on experience by going to the participants’ homes to conduct and compare the two screening tools.

Stephanie Luce, a previous volunteer of Meals on Wheels from Houston, said, “Through my experience back home, I was able to see what an impact you made on each of the individual clients lives and when I heard about the opportunity to do research with Meals on Wheels to possibly help improve the nutritional status as well as the life quality of their clients, I couldn’t pass up the chance.”

Dr. Hill perfectly demonstrated the feeling that she and her student researchers have toward the Meals on Wheels study when she said, “I am excited about the opportunity to do this research study and I am eager to see the results we are going to find.”