This document is part of a five-volume nationwide study of Nutrition Services operations and elderly citizens participating in congregate dining and home delivery services authorized by Title III-C of the Older Americans' Act. The Nutrition Services address a number of problems faced by the nation's elderly, such as dietary inadequacy, declining health status, social isolation, and limited access to social and health services. The major activity of the service is to provide one nutritionally balanced meal per day to the elderly, either in a congregate dining setting or through the provision of home-delivered meals. A second major goal of Nutrition Services is to ameliorate isolation and loneliness that can characterize less mobile elderly citizens. Nutrition sites are also encouraged to provide certain supportive services, if needed, to participants. This evaluation's major concern was whether Nutrition Services significantly benefited older Americans. Some of the survey findings regarding the service population, program characteristics and operations and Nutrition Services' impacts on the elderly include: (1) the participant population is stable; (2) older persons participate frequently in Nutrition Services; (3) most congregate sites are operating at or near capacity; (4) transportation is available to participants at most sites; (5) volunteers (mostly participants) play an important role; (6) Nutrition Services achieve the goal of enhancing dietary intake, offer social benefits to both home-delivered and congregate participants, and provide support services to those who tend to need them most; and (7) nutrition education activities have no discernible impact on participants' dietary intake. (JMK)