Mountain Empire Older Citizens

Employing Technology to Promote Healthy Behaviors Among Seniors in Southwest Virginia

The Project

Mountain Empire Older Citizens (MEOC), a regional aging and public transit provider, is expanding access to nutrition, exercise, and health care services for older adults in three counties. Through in-person and telehealth platforms, MEOC will provide nutrition counseling, exercise programs, cancer education, and telehealth navigation to improve health outcomes. A registered dietitian and telehealth navigator will support these efforts, ensuring that older individuals receive personalized health guidance and access to care.

Work to be Conducted:

Expand Telehealth Access – Train MEOC staff to serve as telehealth navigators, establish a permanent telehealth kiosk, and deploy two mobile platforms to bring health care services to underserved areas.
Enhance Health Education – Offer cancer prevention workshops, chronic disease education, and telehealth support for follow-up care.
Improve Nutrition Services – Hire a registered dietitian to provide group education and individual counseling, targeting those at high nutritional risk.
Promote Fall Prevention & Wellness – Deliver at least 50 Bingocize sessions, combining exercise and health education to improve balance and mobility.

Goals to be Achieved:

Increase Telehealth Utilization – Provide health care access through telehealth for a set number of older adults, tracking patient engagement and outcomes.
Expand Health Outreach – Reach at least 100 individuals with cancer prevention and screening resources.
Improve Nutrition & Wellness – Deliver nutritional counseling, group education, and distribute monthly health newsletters.
Strengthen Community Support – Engage participants through exercise and health education programs to promote independence and well-being.

Healthy Appalachia Institute Next Steps:

As this program unfolds, we aim to better understand how leveraging telehealth and community-based programs might improve health care access, nutrition, and wellness for older adults in the region. By integrating technology with hands-on support, we wish to learn more and in what ways this approach could enhance health literacy and preventive care among older adults.

We invite you to revisit this page as this project

is updated and as the evaluation

of the project continues

Evidence from Across Appalachia

Embedding Lifestyle Interventions into Cancer Care via Telehealth

This article outlines the advantages and challenges of using telehealth to integrate lifestyle interventions into cancer care, particularly relevant for older adults in rural areas.

Advancing Telehealth In Rural Appalachia

The report highlights telehealth’s potential to improve health care access in rural Appalachia but identifies barriers like broadband gaps, digital literacy, and unclear reimbursement policies. Addressing these challenges requires policy reforms, infrastructure investment, and community engagement.

Project Updates

Stay tuned for upcoming project updates