Determining gaps in a county-wide community nutrition education program for older adults.

This study assessed gaps in nutrition education between what was offered by organizations and what was wanted by older adults. In Phase I, 258 gatekeepers were interviewed. In Phase II, 37 non-institutionalized older adults were assigned to five focus groups. Study results indicated a consistency between gatekeepers and participants for services, topics, methods/information sources, and communication routes. However, a gap was found because participants wanted education on more topics and were interested in more specific information, whereas gatekeepers provided more general information. This study concluded that gatekeepers need to provide more topics and in greater specificity when planning for nutrition education programs for older adults.