What Drove Program Participants to Initially Attend Congregate Meals? Socialization, Health, and Other Reasons

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the 2019 National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants (NSOAAP) congregate meal program respondents.

Variables (%)	Total (n = 1,072)
Age
60–64 Years	7.5
65–74 Years	35.4
75–84 Years	37.8
85+ Years	19.3
Race
White only	77.2
Black/African American only	12.3
Other	10.5
Hispanic ethnicity	7.6
Female	66.6
Living alone	43.0
Marital status
Married/partnered	43.0
Widowed	34.2
Divorced, separated, or never married	22.7
Income less than $20,000	39.3
High school degree or higher	87.0
Urban	20.8
Rural	38.3
Food insecurity	10.8
SNAP	12.5
Medicaid	19.9
Self-reported fair/poor health	27.4
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) limitations
No ADLs	62.4
1 or 2 ADLs	30.7
3+ ADLs	7.0
Total health conditions
None or 1 condition	6.5
2 or 3 Conditions	18.2
4 or 5 Conditions	31.9
6 Or more conditions	43.5
Lonely	19.1
Veteran	17.4

Note: All individual variables without subordinate categories in the table (e.g., Hispanic ethnicity, female, living along) are binomial variables with only the reference category shown.

Figure 1. Percent distribution of the reasons congregate meal participants reported they initially attended the program (N = 1,072).

Table 2. Bivariate analysis of reasons for initially attending congregate meal programs, by race and Hispanic ethnicity (weighted).

	Race and Hispanic Ethnicity
Reasons (% within race/ethnicity)	White	Black or African American	Other or mixed race	Hispanic ethnicity	χ^2	p-Value
Socialization	42.0	29.4	28.0	21.3	2.76	0.045*
Age or health related reason	12.9	28.7	33.8	46.1	9.51	0.000***
Accompanied other or referred	11.9	7.4	4.1	6.0	2.77	0.041*
Qualified or convenient	9.7	5.1	2.6	1.3	4.31	0.012*
Nonfinancial food reason	3.9	3.6	7.9	0.0	1.30	0.274
Financial related reason	3.5	7.8	0.1	3.5	1.59	0.203

Notes: Applying NSOAAP dataset weights, n = 1,495,042. Reasons do not total 100.0 percent because no reason/other reason is not included in the table.

^* p<.05; ***p<.001.

Table 3. Bivariate analysis of reasons for initially attending congregate meal programs, by food insecurity (weighted).

	Experiencing food insecurity
Reasons (% within food insecurity)	Yes	No	χ^2	p-Value
Socialization	22.5	40.2	9.24	0.002**
Age or health related reason	35.5	16.9	10.98	0.001***
Accompanied other or referred	7.1	10.6	1.20	0.274
Qualified or convenient	1.5	8.7	7.32	0.007**
Nonfinancial food reason	5.4	3.8	0.54	0.461
Financial related reason	8.9	3.1	6.27	0.012*

Notes: Applying NSOAAP dataset weights, n = 1,506,795. Reasons do not total 100.0 percent because no reason/other reason is not included in the table.

* p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.

Table 4. Distribution of the characteristics of congregate meal participants who attended for socialization reasons compared to all other reasons reported (weighted).

Variables (%)	Reported socialization	Reported another reason	p-Value
Age			0.058
60–64 Years	5.5	8.6
65–74 Years	30.7	38.3
75–84 Years	44.6	33.6
85+ Years	19.1	19.4
Race
White only	83.8	73.2	0.029*
Black/African American only	9.3	14.2
Other	6.9	12.7
Hispanic ethnicity	4.3	9.5	0.064
Female	68.5	65.5	0.499
Living alone	45.6	41.3	0.339
Marital status
Married/partnered	41.4	41.3	0.147
Widowed	39.9	30.7
Divorced, separated, or never married	18.7	25.2
Income less than $20,000	30.5	44.4	0.003**
High school degree or higher	91.3	84.4	0.009**
Urban	13.6	25.2	0.001**
Rural	41.1	36.6	0.320
Food insecurity	6.4	13.6	0.002**
SNAP	5.3	16.9	0.000***
Medicaid	11.0	25.4	0.000***
Self-reported fair/poor health	24.1	29.4	0.207
Activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations
No ADLs	63.7	61.6	0.008**
1 or 2 ADLs	33.3	29.0
3+ ADLs	3.0	9.4
Total health conditions
None or 1 condition	5.0	7.4	0.486
2 or 3 Conditions	17.3	18.7
4 or 5 Conditions	30.8	32.6
6 or More conditions	46.9	41.3
Lonely	19.5	18.8	0.869
Veteran	17.3	17.4	0.974

Notes: Applying NSOAAP dataset weights to the population of older adults who attend congregate meals for socialization n = 576,943; another reason n = 937,048. Any percentages that do not total 100.0 percent are due to missing data.

* p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.

Table 5. Distribution of the characteristics of congregate meal participants who attended for age or health related reasons compared to all other reasons reported (weighted).

Variables (%)	Reported age or health reason	Reported another reason	p-Value
Age
60–64 Years	6.2	7.8	0.730
60–74 Years	34.8	35.6
75–84 Years	36.0	38.2
85+ Years	23.0	18.5
Race
White only	59.2	81.2	0.000***
Black/African American only	20.0	10.6
Other	20.8	8.2
Hispanic ethnicity	18.3	5.0	0.018*
Female	73.4	65.1	0.11
Living alone	49.3	41.5	0.179
Marital status
Married/partnered	25.2	47.0	0.000***
Widowed	42.2	32.5
Divorced, separated, or never married	32.6	20.5
Income less than $20,000	58.5	34.8	0.000***
High school degree or higher	73.9	90.0	0.002**
Urban	32.7	18.1	0.013*
Rural	26.5	41.0	0.002**
Food insecurity	20.4	8.6	0.011*
SNAP	19.8	10.8	0.040*
Medicaid	35.9	16.1	0.001***
Self-reported fair/poor health	42.8	23.7	0.001***
Activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations
No ADLs	45.6	66.3	0.000***
1 or 2 ADLs	35.8	29.5
3+ ADLs	18.6	4.3
Total health conditions
None or 1 condition	4.6	6.9	0.183
2 or 3 Conditions	10.8	19.9
4 or 5 Conditions	32.9	31.7
6 or More conditions	51.7	41.5
Lonely	22.5	18.3	0.398
Veteran	11.4	18.8	0.027*

Notes: Applying NSOAAP dataset weights to the population of older adults who attend congregate meals for age/health reason n = 285,341; another reason n = 1,228,650. Any percentages that do not total 100.0 percent are due to missing data.

* p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.

Data availability statement

The Administration on Aging’s National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants (NSOAAP) questionnaires, data, and documentation are publicly available at https://agid.acl.gov/.