Each year, more and more older adults are making a positive impact in and around our communities. As volunteers, employees, employers, educators, mentors, advocates, and more, they offer insight and experience that benefit the entire Mystic Valley community. That’s why Older Americans Month has been recognizing the contributions of this growing population for 56 years. We also participate in the health and well being of older adults.

Good nutrition is critical to overall health and well-being — yet many older adults are at risk of inadequate nutrition. Mystic Valley Elder Services is dedicated to combating malnutrition and poor diet practices in older adults. Malnutrition is a serious senior health issue. It is related to an excessive or imbalanced diet (a diet that lacks essential nutrients) or can be tied to clinical conditions that impair the body’s absorption or use of food.

The Executive Office of Elder Affairs Massachusetts’s Elderly Nutrition Program provided more than 9 million meals to approximately 75,000 seniors in order to improve nutrition, reduce hunger, and promote socialization.  Mystic Valley Elder Services provided nearly 713,000 meals in the last year to older adults.

As part of Older American Month, observed in May, Mystic Valley Elder Services will be offering malnutrition awareness clinics at the following locations:

Chelsea: Buckley Towers, 14 Bloomingdale Ave. on Tuesday, May 14, at 11:45am

Melrose: McCarthy Apartments, 910 Main Street on Wednesday, May 15, at 12:30pm

Stoneham: Finnegan Hall, Duncklee Ave. on Thursday, May 16, at 12:30pm

These are three of 76 malnutrition awareness clinics and events that will be held across the state. Know the causes and signs of nutrition problems in older adults, as well as steps you can take to ensure a nutrient-rich diet for an older loved one. The clinics will include individual malnutrition risk screenings, an educational presentation, free snack giveaway, healthy diet information and a Q&A session with Candace Quigley, RD, a registered dietician with Mystic Valley Elder Services. No reservation is needed; these are walk-in clinics.