A Comparison of Status of Nutrition Management in Long-Term Care Facilities With and Without Dietitian

Abstract

Objectives: The study was performed to compare the status of nutrition management with and without dietitian in residential facilities in order to provide basic data for high quality of nutrition management services across the country.Methods: Among long-term care facilities with claims of benefits, 747 samples were extracted through a proportionate stratified sampling method based on region, agents of foundation, types of food service, and facility size.Results: The subjects of the survey were dietitian, general managers, or facility directors. Nutrition evaluation, nutrition intervention, and nutrition monitoring were performed by professional staff at the residential facilities with a dietitian. On the other hand, it was found that the rate of nutrition management performance was relatively low in residential facilities where no dietitian was assigned, and it was performed by non-professional personnel such as nurse aids and social workers.Conclusions: The results of this study suggested that developing strategies is required to reinforce the safe minimal standard of dietitians’ staffing levels for systematic nutrition management.