An agency must choose to fund either expanded Meals on Wheels deliveries or larger congregate meal sites. From a public-health perspective focusing on frail homebound elders, which choice and justification is strongest?

• A. Fund an expensive luxury restaurant voucher program for seniors that emphasizes gourmet dining in distant locations because upscale dining obviously yields better nutritional outcomes than standardized meal programs.
• B. Fund only congregate meal expansion because all older adults can be expected to travel with minimal assistance and socialization cannot be achieved by home-delivered meals under any circumstances.
• C. Choose neither because community-based meal programs do not influence nutrition or health outcomes; resources should instead be shifted entirely to constructing new senior housing units without meal services.
• D. Fund expanded Meals on Wheels because it directly reaches homebound elders who cannot travel to congregate sites, addressing both nutrition and safety monitoring; however, planners should add volunteer check-ins to mitigate social isolation.

Answer: (D)