Co-designing an intervention to improve the diet quality of socially isolated older adults: NESLA kicks off

GERI’s new research project, “Improving Diet Quality of Community-Dwelling Seniors using a Community-Based Participatory Approach (CBPR)” or NESLA in short, aims to improve the nutrition needs of socially isolated older adults.

Activities such as cooking classes and communal dining programmes often reach older adults who are already socially engaged. To address this intervention inequity, this study focuses on older adults living alone who face higher malnutrition risks and whose needs are not adequately met by these existing community programmes.

“Instead of designing solutions in isolation, the project utilises the CBPR approach allowing us to bring together diverse stakeholders including community partners, policymakers, service providers, dietitians and the older adults themselves so we can develop an intervention that fits their real-world needs and preferences,” shared GERI’s Research Fellow Dr Zoe Lim, the study’s Principal Investigator.

NESLA’s Community Advisory Board (CAB), including Health Promotion Board’s Priscilla Li and Justin Chua, NTUC Health’s Dr Lily Yeo and Vincent Lau, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital’s Teoh Huiru and the Agency for Integrated Care’s Marine Chioh gathered for a kick-off meeting at GERI on 29 August 2025 to mark the start of the study.

During the session, the attendees discussed, among many things, the potential challenges and strategies for reaching socially isolated older adults. Future CAB meetings will also involve selected older adults identified by the project, ensuring their lived experiences directly inform intervention design and implementation strategies.

Stay tuned as we bring you more updates on NESLA and other GERI research projects.