Telehealth Nutrition Counseling in Aging Communities in rural Virginia

The Older Americans Act (OAA) requires Area Agencies on Aging provide nutritional counseling. Telehealth can increase access to healthcare; however, telehealth use in aging and rural communities remains limited. Mountain Empire Older Citizens (MEOC), a designated AAA in Southwest Virginia, provides a nutritional counseling program across its 7 regional senior day centers. In 2024 however, only 22 of MEOC’s approximately 200 community members participated. All sessions were done by telephone. In collaboration with the MEOC nutrition team, we assessed if telehealth was a viable option for nutritional counseling for this community and if it could lead to improved completion of the intervention.