Assistance at mealtimes in hospital settings and rehabilitation units for older adults from the perspective of patients, families and healthcare professionals: a mixed methods systematic review protocol

Abstract

Review question/objectivesThe review question is: Assistance at mealtimes for older adults in hospital settings and rehabilitation units: what goes on, what works and what do patients, families and healthcare professionals think about it?The specific objectives are: To determine the effectiveness of meal time assistance initiatives for improving nutritional intake and nutritional status for older adult patients in hospital settings and rehabilitation units  To identify and explore the perceptions and experiences of older adult patients and those involved with their care with regard to assistance at mealtimes in hospital settings and rehabilitation unitsThis mixed methods review seeks to develop an aggregated synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data on assistance at mealtimes for older adults in hospital settings and rehabilitation units in order to derive conclusions and recommendations useful for clinical practice and policy decision making.

Prevalence of malnutrition among older people in medical and surgical wards in hospital and quality of nutritional care: A multicenter, cross‐sectional study

“…Based on our results, 1:5 patients are malnourished. The high percentage (48.7%) of people at risk of malnutrition raises concern, as it is known that they may become malnourished during hospitalisation (Edwards, Carrier, & Hopkinson, ). Median length of stay in our sample was 6 days.…”

“…The literature reports that, if a family‐like style is adopted during meals, interaction and conviviality are fostered between patients, resulting in higher food intake (Edwards et al., ). Our study also shows that dining rooms are often unused.…”

“…Many studies have emphasised the importance of personalised assistance during meals (Bonetti et al., ; Christensson & Bachrach‐Linström, ; Feldblum et al., ; Tassone et al., ; Vucea et al., ). To overcome this shortage of personnel, several strategies are suggested in the literature, such as involving volunteers (Edwards et al., ; Hickson, Connolly, & Whelan, ; Tassone et al., ). All patients that had to skip lunch for diagnostic tests or other reasons reported that they received their meal later.…”

“…Using dining rooms could encourage conviviality and consequently increase food intake. | 5089 (Edwards et al, 2015;Hickson, Connolly, & Whelan, 2011;Tassone et al, 2015). All patients that had to skip lunch for diagnostic tests or other reasons reported that they received their meal later.…”

Assistance at mealtimes in hospital settings and rehabilitation units for patients (>65 years) from the perspective of patients, families and healthcare professionals: A mixed methods systematic review

“…A mixed methods review is important because quantitative studies inform us about what interventions work; but we also need to be able to reveal why something works and what factors are important for the intervention to work. The protocol (Edwards et al, 2015) and full report of this systematic review (Edwards et al, 2016) have already been published and this paper provides a summary of the main points of interest.…”