Aging Studies Alum Delivers Plenary Speech

Kali Thomas, PhD, MA in Aging Studies (2011) was the plenary speaker at the 2014 Florida Council on Aging meeting. Dr. Thomas discussed her findings "Providing more home delivered meals is one way to keep older adults with low care needs out of nursing homes" about the value of meals-on-wheels. The research on how home and community-based service can reduce the numbers of Florida elders needing nursing home placements was published in 2011 during her PhD work at USF. Her talk on August 5 focused on the importance of meals-on-wheels both as delivering nutritious food but also the value of social interaction and "check-ups" on homebound elders. Dr. Thomas' findings have been published in Health Affairs and Health Services Research.