Mecklenburg County Senior Citizens Nutrition Program, undertook a community project called the SOS feasibility/demonstration project in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This project was funded by the Administration on Aging through a cooperative agreement (#90AM2665) with the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services.

The purpose of the study was to demonstrate how an Area Agency on Aging nutrition service provider such as Mecklenburg County Senior Citizens Nutrition Program can provide Medicare reimbursed Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) to homebound seniors with diabetes and pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease. MNT has been proven to be very cost effective, meaning it produces significant health benefits for very little cost. Despite this, there has been very little effort by the aging network agencies to provide MNT service to its customers. The American Dietetic Association and the Administration on Aging are asking state agencies to reform the delivery of long-term health care, from institutional to home and community-based services. In addition to congregate and home delivered meals, providing access to a continuum of nutrition care services such as nutrition screening and MNT is vitally important,  especially for those beneficiaries who are at risk nutritionally when transitioned from institutional to home and community-based long term care services.

Since there is currently very limited experience with the provision of Medicare reimbursed MNT (for diabetes and pre-dialysis end stage renal disease) and home delivered therapeutic meals by the Area Agencies on Aging, one of the goals of the SOS project was to produce a how to manual. This manual has step-by step guidelines and a variety of resources, ideas, and suggestions for implementing therapeutic diet meals and MNT within a nutrition program. To view this manual or to download a free copy of the document, please click on the following link (SOS Manual Final Report).