Nutrition is often considered the foundation of health and an important indicator of well-being. Older adults living in the community are particularly at high risk of poor nutrition due to social isolation, frailty, cognitive impairment, poly-pharmacy, reduced functional status and financial instability. Older adults receiving skilled home health may also be at risk for poor nutrition as the Outcomes Assessment Information Set (OASIS), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid mandated home health assessment, does not contain items specifically related to nutrition assessment, leaving this important aspect of health potentially neglected. In the popular and empirical literature there is a plethora of knowledge on what older adults should be eating. …show more content…
All of these risks can be complex to resolve and often result in reduced nutritional intake further increasing the risk of weight loss and malnutrition.14 Poor appetite in particular is a common problem among older adults and can stem from physiological, psychosocial, and pharmacological causes. Physiologically, older adults may experience pain, reduced functional status, dental problems, constipation, sensory impairment such as changes to smell, taste and vision, and the impact of multi-morbidity that all may lead to decline in food consumption.14 Psychosocially, an older adult's appetite can be greatly influenced by their changing environment and limited opportunities for socialization. Furthermore, limited access to adequate and healthy foods can be particularly challenging for this population.15 Pharmacologically, most older adults take at least one medication,16 many of which can cause nausea or alter the senses of taste and smell leading to reduced appetite.17 As older adults lose their appetite and consequently eat less, body mass index (BMI) decreases to a point that calls for critical intervention. Prior research indicates reduced BMI increases risk for death18 and many older …show more content…
The OASIS C-2 also addresses intervenous, parenteral or enteral therapies received (M1030) and managed (M2102) by a home health recipient, unintentional weight loss of 10 pounds or more within the previous 12 months (M1033), encourages but does not require the completion of a separate pressure ulcer assessment including nutrition as a risk factor (M1300), and a care recipient’s ability to feed themselves (M1870).23 The OASIS C-2 however, does not contain any additional assessment items related to the adequacy of a home health recipients’ nutritional intake or status which could potentially lead to a missed or inadequate assessment and identification of learning needs among older adults vulnerable for poor nutrition. Moreover, there is a lack of evidence based practice information on nutritional interventions most effective for older adults.24 Therefore, it is unclear how nutritional assessment, education and recommendations are provided to skilled home health recipients or if nutrition status is routinely included in the home health comprehensive assessment. To address this gap, we conducted a review of the literature related to nutritional assessment and education among older adults living at
A Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was completed on Anne. The MNA is a tool used to provide a rapid assessment of elderly patients’ nutritional status. The MNA is made up of simple measurements and a few brief questions that can be completed by the patient in no more than ten minutes. The nutritional status of a patient is evaluated using a two-step process to accurately determine a patient’s nutritional status (McGee
MUST is a five-step screening tool designed for healthcare professionals to identify adult patients who at risk of, or are malnourished. It includes guidelines on how to develop an effective treatment plan. The Malnutrition Advisory Group (MAG) in 2000 adapted and extended their community screening tool to include care homes and hospitals, in response to national concerns. (Department of Health, 2001). In 2003 MUST was designed by MAG and the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN). It was piloted across many care settings, to target patients who may be at risk of malnutrition.
When residents have been allowed to participate in their diet decisions, they have been found to have increased appetites and enjoyment of food, both of which are equated with quality of life. Alternatively, strict diets have been shown to result in lower intakes leading to weight loss and undernutrition. (Dorner, Niedert, & Welch, 2002). Offering a wide variety of foods with 24/7 access to allows active participation in choosing their own diet. Eliza Jennings homes were assured resident health was not compromised as a result of person-centered care by performing regular Accu-Checks and other diagnostic checks to monitor the health of the residents (“Case Studies in Person-Directed Care”,
Growing old is hard, and unfortunately it is also unavoidable. It is a part of life and everyone, who lives a normal lifespan, goes through it. Growing old is very hard not only on the individual growing older but also on the loved ones of that individual. Most people as they grow older start to require more and more care to be able to live a normal life from one day to the next. Over time this level of care can become too much for their loved ones to be able to provide. When something like this happens, outside help is needed. This care may come in the form of home care or having to move into a care facility. There are a lot of people that end up needing a significant amount of care to which they need to be in a facility that can give them the type of care that they require on a daily basis. Nursing homes and care centers are the last stop for many hospital patients. They can also be temporary places for people recovering from strokes or surgeries and need rehabilitation to get their lives back in place (Mcgrody). There is nothing wrong with needing to move to a nursing home but it can be a very stressful time for that individual and his or her family, because the end of life is usually not too far away. A lot of people start to have trouble eating when they get older and this can make nourishment levels decline. Weight loss usually occurs as a result of this malnourishment. Part of the reason difficulties like this may happen is because of the different aspects of mealtime in nursing homes or care facilities. There are strategies to help alleviate or to help cope with the problems that arise near the end of life due to eating. A few things to consider when thinking about the end of life are troubles with eating...
Food insecurity is a concerning issue that need to be addressed in our current society. In population such as the elderly it is alerting issue. For instance, many older adults lack access, have chronic health conditions and limited support when obtaining food. As result older adults experience nutritional complication such as malnourishment and sometimes death. To reduce the complications associated with food insecurity in the elderly population interventions are needed. This paper will highlight several interventions that addressed the issue of food insecurity among the elderly population. Lastly, this paper will provide detail information on which intervention will be the best approach in increasing food intake and nourishment among the
Elderly, 1991. American Journal of Public Health, 84(8), 1265. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
These last two years, however, I started to gain weight and have become concerned with my diet. Changing my poor eating habits has been difficult for me, however, having this assignment has taught me that it is not as difficult as I previously imagined. Nutrition experts in the United States and Canada have a list of standards with four list values. These list values are called the Dietary Reference Intakes. The DRI committee sets these values for vitamins, minerals, calories, and nutrients.
As the number of older adults in the United States grows, the demands on the food system will change. The U.S. Bureau of the Census projects that by the year 2050, the population will grow by another 110 million people to 392 million (2010). The median age has increased from 34.0 in 1994 to 37.2 in 2010. It is projected to peak at 39.1 in 2035. The older population, 65 and older is projected to increase from 12.4 percent in 2000 to 20.7 percent in 2050. The age group that is growing the fastest is age 85 and older. Racial minority groups, African American, Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian/Pacific Islanders are expected to increase to 27.9 percent, while Hispanics will increase to 24.4 percent and the proportion of Whites will decrease to 50.1 percent. With the growing number of older adults making up the population, it is believed that they will be more health conscious and may have a variety of health problems related to diet.
Miller, Carol A. (2012). Nursing for Wellness in Older Adults. (sixth edition). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
At any age, nutrition is vital to maintaining health and enhancing quality of life. However, achieving good nutrition can be especially difficult for the elderly, the fastest growing portion of America's population. Many factors, including physiological changes, changes in nutritional needs, illness and physical limitations, food-medication interactions, depression and loneliness, and food insecurity are common causes of malnutrition in the elderly. This paper will explore factors affecting elderly nutrition, provide suggestions for obtaining and maintaining good nutrition after age 65, and describe the services available to help the elderly meet their nutritional needs.
Nutrition assessments include clinical and dietary assessment, anthropometrics, as well as biochemical, laboratory immunologic and functional indices of nutritional status (Gibney, 2005). In epidemiological studies, different dietary investigation tools were designed to assess the nutritional status in individuals and populations, nutrition monitoring and surveillance and diet-disease research (Friedenreich, et al., 1992, Taren, 2002).
Today, the world’s population is aging at a very fast pace and the United States is no exception to this demographic change. According to the U.S Census Bureau, senior citizens will account for 21% of the American population in 2050 (Older Americans, 2012). Although living longer lives may not seem like a negative sign, living longer does not necessarily mean living healthier. Older adults of today are in need of long-term health care services more than any generation before them (Older Americans, 2012). Because of the growing need for senior care, millions of families are facing critical decisions on how to provide care for their parents.
Since we have been learning about nutrition in class, our task was to record a food log. Nutrition requires a well-balanced diet containing nutrient and vitamins like amino acids and fatty acids. Over the past seven days I have been recording and have been looking very carefully at my intake of nutrients, minerals, vitamins, and fats. In our task, the objective was to record the basic foods we ate during the period of seven, but it did not require recording every single detail or our intake of food. Doing this food log was a pain and it was disturbing because I never wrote about what I ate like breakfast, lunch, dinner, or additional meals. I found this food log useful because it helped me learn what I can change in my intake of foods to make my diet healthy and to see what about my diet is affecting me from being healthy because I could affect me in the future.
Communication is the interaction between individuals and is an important skill to use within the Children and Young People's Workforce. The structure of communication is used by passing a message, receiving the message and replying to the message which is an essential and a basic skill of life. There are different types of communication, which are: Verbal Communication and Non-verbal communication. The reasons why people communicate is to express/portray our feelings and needs. We also need to communicate in order to build positive relationships with other professionals, children/young people and their families. Another reason we communicate is to understand one another and learn from one another by sharing ideas/information and experiences.
Holistic nutrition assesses the health history, diet habits and the lifestyle of an individual patient to determine the cause of underlying health issues and the most organic approach to deal with the health problem (Rustad & Smith, 2013). Rustad & Smith argues that community education plays a significant role in the practice of holistic nutrition to change the current nutrition behaviors amongst populations which are detrimental to health. Evidence based nutrition are guidelines that have been developed to assist in nutrition decision making which promotes appropriate nutrition care for specific diseases such as diabetes. In such cases, a nutrition is based on a systematic process and treatment algorithms derived from evidence analysis (Dollahite et al.,