Meals on Wheels: Supporting Health, Nutrition & Communities

Meals on Wheels provides a vital service for adults across the UK, having evolved from a wartime emergency food service into a broad community support system that can also include social interaction, wellness checks and referrals to health services.

How Meals on Wheels Supports Quality of Life

A study from the University of Bristol reports that vulnerable older people receiving Meals on Wheels are 66% more likely to report a higher quality of life and 62% more likely to have control over their daily life.

The study also highlighted considerable gaps in Meals on Wheels provision across the UK. Some areas have well-established services while others have very limited provision, despite potentially high levels of need. “We also showed that demand is not driven by age alone,” says Angeliki Papadaki, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of Bristol. “Many people who need Meals on Wheels live alone, rurally, are disabled, or have multiple vulnerabilities. Drivers who deliver the meals often build trusted relationships with recipients and may notice changes in wellbeing, mobility or health that might otherwise go unnoticed.”

Providers cater for a wide range of specialist dietary needs, including gluten free, vegetarian, vegan and texture-modified meals, as well as meals for people with dysphagia. Meals are prepared in different ways depending on the provider. Some services operate from central production kitchens, while others use local authority catering facilities, care home kitchens, community kitchens or commercial catering partners.

Neel Radia, national chair of the National Association of Care Catering (NACC), says independent caterers have opportunities to play a major role in strengthening and modernising Meals on Wheels, “especially as many councils have reduced in-house provision and demand for community meal services continues to grow.” He adds: “Rather than replacing traditional services, independent caterers often help fill operational gaps, expand capacity and improve meal variety and responsiveness.

Case Study: Fife Council

The Meals on Wheels service operated by Fife Council in Scotland delivers, on average, 600 meals and 150 afternoon teas 363 days a year.

Andrew Stokes, Scottish chair of the NACC, is service manager at Fife Council. The service operates on a menu cycle, with supervisors selecting the most popular meals among customers. Clients can request the service online, with delivery starting 48 hours later.

Andrew manages a team of 50, most of whom are drivers, and all are paid employees. Fife Council has a contract with apetito, which supplies frozen meals to three production kitchens, either situated in a care home kitchen or school kitchen.

Once the meals have been regenerated, they are transported and delivered in thermally insulated steel boxes. Deliveries are typically from 11am to 2pm. Andrew says: “As part of their checks, the driver will use a digital probe to check the temperature. Hot boxes keep the food warm for, on average, four to five hours.”

The meals might be dropped off at the door or plated up inside the home. “We have to make sure we witness the food entering the property. It can’t be left outside for food hygiene reasons. It tends to be the same drivers on the same route, so there’s a real sense of familiarity. If they notice anything concerning in the house or they think people are unwell, they will report this to the supervisor who will alert the necessary service. I sometimes go out with the drivers – it’s a humbling experience.”