3. Addressing Older Adult Mental Health Through CDSME at Congregate Meal Sites: An Academic–Community Partnership Model from Texas

This session highlights a community–academic partnership between Texas A&M University’s Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI) and the rural Brownwood community to address older adult mental health through the delivery of Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) at congregate meal sites. By offering CDSME classes immediately following Title IIIC-funded congregate meals, the partnership reduces barriers to participation and leverages trusted community spaces and site empowerment to address social isolation, food insecurity, and mental health challenges. Presenters will share research insights, implementation lessons from the community-based organization, and lived experience from a program participant to illustrate how this integrated model supports mental well-being and can be adapted in other communities.

Learning Objectives:

1.     Describe how CDSME delivered at congregate meal sites can support older adult mental health by reducing isolation and increasing self-efficacy.

2.     Identify key partnership and implementation strategies for integrating CDSME into Title IIIC-funded congregate meal settings.

3.     Apply lessons from the Brownwood community partnership to inform replication or adaptation of similar models in other community-based settings.

Eligible for 1 CE with live participation