Eat Well Age Well report on Round 2 of their Small Ideas, Big Impact Fund highlights the positive impact of projects which received funding to help support older people to live well via food, with several of the projects using funding to provide REHIS Eating Well for Older People (EWfOP) training.
The training means that the people and organisations working directly with older adults in their homes and communities understand the issues that affect them the most and can recognise change. The regular contact and trusting relationships community organisations have with the older people they work with also makes them best placed to have conversations about eating and drinking well.
To tackle and prevent malnutrition Eat Well Age Well have developed and delivered The Small Ideas Big Impact Fund (SIBI) which aimed to encourage people across Scotland to test out new ideas to help prevent, detect and/or treat malnutrition in older people aged 65 years and over.
The Small Ideas, Big Impact Fund – Round 2 Report highlights the impact of work completed throughout the period of May 2019 – January 2021 and is based on 22 projects which received funding.
Funds between £50 to £5000 were available to test out or extend initiatives which help prevent, detect and/or treat malnutrition in older people, and the fund was specifically designed for individuals, community groups, social enterprises, charities and public-sector workers.
The funded projects supported 27 staff and volunteers from 16 projects to take part in either REHIS Eating Well for Older People (EWfOP) training or EWAW’s Raising the Issue of Malnutrition.
Funded activities have had an impact in the following ways:
• Increased food access
• Identified and addressed malnutrition
• Increased health and wellbeing
• Decreased social isolation and loneliness
