East Tennessee State University is one of three universities nationwide selected to develop and launch a new program designed to connect older adults living with behavioral health conditions to local senior community meal sites — strengthening nutrition, reducing isolation, and supporting overall well-being.

ETSU was awarded the three-year grant by the U.S. Administration for Community Living’s Innovation in Nutrition Programs and Services program. Texas A&M University and Virginia Commonwealth University also received grants as part of the initiative, totaling about $1.49 million.  

ETSU’s project, Clinics Helping Adults Thrive (CHAT) through Senior Nutrition Engagement in Tennessee, is designed to connect Tennesseans age 60 and older who are receiving behavioral health services with their local senior meal site.

The initiative is being developed in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging and a statewide network of community partners including the Rural Health Association of Tennessee and the Tennessee Charitable Care Network.

“Community partners are absolutely essential to our work,” said Dr. Laura Hunt Trull, the project’s principal investigator. “We cannot make these changes without the full investment of our community partners, and I am grateful we’ve had such a resounding positive response from our partners so far.”

Trull said they’re still in the early stages of this work, but hopes the end result will enhance nutrition, decrease loneliness, and improve general well-being among older adults receiving behavioral health services.

“It's not worth very much to know about a challenge if you're not willing to bring your resources to bear on addressing the challenge,” said Trull, who is a faculty member in both ETSU’s College of Health Sciences and the Quillen College of Medicine.

“I see the CHAT program as an opportunity to see the data through to projects that address it and make a real difference,” she added.  

It’s the latest initiative at ETSU focused on supporting healthy aging across the state.

In November, ETSU earned the Age-Friendly University designation from the Age-Friendly University Global Network, a prestigious consortium of more than 140 higher education institutions committed to promoting positive and healthy aging, intergenerational learning and access to education across the lifespan.

University faculty are also contributing to the state’s Lifelong Tennessee Steering Committee, part of a multi-year initiative to ensure Tennesseans are well cared for and well supported while they age.

ETSU’s Center for Rural Health and Research, housed in the College of Public Health, has also played a key role in forming the state’s multisector plan for aging, hosting a symposium on the topic in 2023 and developing a statewide dashboard for aging data.

The CHAT initiative builds on ETSU’s growing portfolio of aging-related work. It reflects the university’s commitment as the Flagship of Appalachia to deliver practical, community-centered solutions across the region.

To learn more about ETSU’s College of Health Sciences or the Quillen College of Medicine, visit etsu.edu/chs/ or etsu.edu/com/. Clinics and senior meal sites across Tennessee can email Trull at trulllh@etsu.edu to get involved.