This scoping review examines the impact of community‐based food interventions on older adults’ health, well‐being, and social connectedness. As the global population ages, these interventions offer promising solutions to address health challenges older adults face, such as malnutrition, social isolation, and chronic diseases. This review finds that community‐based food interventions effectively improve older adults’ dietary quality, physical health, and mental well‐being, with more significant benefits observed when these interventions promote social bonding and foster a sense of community. Key factors contributing to success include combining multiple intervention components, such as nutritional education and physical activity. Offering culturally relevant food; incorporating interactive and sensory activities; embedding staff within interventions; including the involvement of experts; and clear goal‐setting methods, such as SMART goals, are also crucial in driving behavior change and influencing the success of interventions. These elements foster a more personalized and holistic approach to health promotion. However, barriers such as limited time for social interaction, inadequate content delivery, challenges in accessibility and affordability, and limited food variety were identified. The insights from our review are significant for stakeholders integrating community‐based food interventions into local healthcare systems, ultimately supporting healthy aging, improving the quality of life of community‐based older adults, and reducing the burden on healthcare services, with economic benefits.

Co-production in research offers the potential for multiple benefits, including amplifying the voices of the marginalised, reducing power inequalities between academic researchers and co-researchers outside of academia, increased likelihood of impact, and improvement in the research process. But alongside increased interest in co-production, there is increased awareness of its contextual constraints. Key amongst these are institutional orthodoxies in academia, including time-limited, project-based research and precarious employment for junior researchers. To examine how the potential benefits of co-production can be achieved within the constraints of current academic systems, a case study project was assessed against a documented set of expectations for the co-production of research with older adults. The case study was a research project conducted with seven almshouse communities in England on the topic of social resilience. The wider almshouse communities—staff, trustees, and residents—were involved in co-production. The assessment concluded that co-production led to rich data and deep understanding. Co-production aided the development of skills and experiences of the co-researchers, resulted in changes in practice, and challenged power differentials, albeit in limited ways, but could not ensure the sustainability of relationships or impact. Key elements for effective co-production included the approach to and governance of the project, the formation of a Residents Advisory Group, and planning for the limited commitment that individuals and organisations outside of academia may be able to contribute to research.