Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Receives $3 Million Federal Grant to Test New Method of Providing Malnutrition Care for Older Adults

July 17, 2023

CHICAGO – The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has received a grant of $3 million from the Administration for Community Living, which will test a new model of care that leverages registered dietitian nutritionists as the essential connection between clinical and community settings.

The amount represents the largest federal grant the Academy has received to date. It will enable the Academy to partner with eight hospitals and meal provision organizations.

“When older patients with malnutrition are discharged from hospitals, it is rare for them to be referred to an organization that continues their nutrition care, and therefore their malnutrition goes unresolved,” said registered dietitian nutritionist Lauri Wright, the 2023-2024 president of the Academy.

“This program will utilize the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Health Informatics Infrastructure to facilitate referral of patients from hospital to meal provision organizations and allow the transfer of data from one setting to the next using new Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources technology. If the program improves participants' outcomes, this new model will provide a scalable framework for malnutrition management and will benefit older persons with malnutrition,” Wright said.

Alison Steiber, PhD, RDN, the Academy’s chief science officer, will be the primary investigator for the study. Additional key personnel include Constantina Papoutsakis, PhD, RDN, senior director of the Academy’s Data Science Center; Elizabeth Jimenez Yakes, PhD, RDN, associate professor in epidemiology at the University of New Mexico; Lindsay Woodcock, MS, RDN, research project manager at the Academy; and Erin Lamers-Johnson, MS, RDN, nutrition researcher.

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About the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
Representing more than 112,000 credentialed nutrition and dietetics practitioners, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is the world’s largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. The Academy is committed to improving health and advancing the profession of dietetics through research, education and advocacy. Visit the Academy at www.eatright.org.

About the Malnutrition Care Project
This project is supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $3.99 million with 75% funded by ACL/HHS and 25% funded by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.