Abstract
Congregate meals which are held several times a week are very effective for the elderly, because food supports and social supports can be provided at the same time. However, congregate meals, that are held frequently, have not been popular in Japan. In this study, we investigated the actual situation of congregate meals that the elderly usually use once a week or more by means of the questionnaire for all cities which have more than 50,000 population in Japan. From these questionnaires, we picked up some minor cases and performed hearings to them. The effects and the problems of congregate meals are discussed from the points of service providers. Another investigation have been performed for 6 months to study various aspects, such as physical effects, mental effects, social effects and Quality of Life, for clients who used the service for the first time. The purpose of this study is to clarify the actual situation, the effects and problems of congregate meals which
are hold frequently. The results of this study are as follows:
1) Congregate meals are provided in the only 10% of all the cities more than 50,000 population.
2) Congregate meals are effective to connect persons to persons and younger generations to elderly generations. There are some problems of not only hard wears and soft wears but also mental resistances of service providers.
3) Congregate meals are found to be physically, mentally, socially effective for the clients. The encouraging of life and the increasing of social supports with friends are statistically recognized.
