Study circles improve the precision in nutritional care in special accommodations

Abstract

BackgroundDisease-related malnutrition is a major health problem in the elderly population, but it has until recently received very little attention, especially are management issues under-explored. By identifying residents at the risk of undernutrition (UN), appropriate nutritional care can be provided.ObjectiveTo investigate if study circles and policy documents improve the precision in nutritional care and decrease the prevalence of low or high body mass index (BMI).DesignPre and post-intervention study.SettingSpecial accommodations (nursing homes) within six municipalities were involved.ParticipantsIn 2005, 1,726 (90.4%) of 1,910 residents agreed to participate and in 2007, 1,526 (81.8%) of 1,866 residents participated.InterventionStudy circles in one municipality, having a policy document in one municipality and no intervention in four municipalities.MeasurementsRisk of UN was defined as involving any of: involuntary weight loss; low BMI; and/or eating difficulties. Overweight was defined as high BMI.ResultsIn 2005 and 2007, 64% and 66% of residents, respectively, were at the risk of UN. In 2007, significantly more patients in the study circle municipality were accurately provided protein and energy enriched food (PE-food) compared to the no intervention municipalities. There was a decrease between 2005 and 2007 in the prevalence of low BMI in the study circle municipality, but the prevalence of overweight increased in the policy document municipality.ConclusionsStudy circles improve the provision of PE-food for residents at the risk of UN and can possibly decrease the prevalence of low BMI. It is likely that a combination of study circles and implementation of a policy document focusing on screening and on actions to take if the resident is at UN risk can give even better results.

Eating Difficulties, Nutrition, Meal Preferences and Experiences Among Elderly A Literature Overview From a Scandinavian Context

“…Early detection of malnutrition is therefore of great importance (Westergren et al, 2002;Guigoz, 2006). Successful actions have been taken in the past 15 years to prevent and treat malnutrition and these have also shown that nutritional care is important (Westergren, Axelsson, et al, 2009;Törmä, Winblad, Cederholm, & Saletti, 2013). Screening of nutritional status and identifying what may be associated with nutritional problems, have proven to be useful interventions in preventing malnutrition Söderhamn, Dale, Sundsli, & Söderhamn, 2012;Söderström et al, 2013).…”

“…Active self-care and the overall attitudes of the elderly to nutrition is also of great importance in preventing malnutrition (Backman & Hentinen, 1999). For instance, study circles have been used to stimulate the awareness and knowledge of both staff and the elderly about self-care and how to reduce the risk of malnutrition (Westergren, Axelsson, et al, 2009). …”

Study protocol: cost-effectiveness of multidisciplinary nutritional support for undernutrition in older adults in nursing home and home-care: cluster randomized controlled trial

“…The education of the nutrition coordinator includes three whole-day courses plus train-the-trainer sessions with other staff members (based on [13]) and local study circles in-between (based on [17]). These nutrition coordinators will be active in both the control and the intervention group.…”

A Network for Eating and Nutrition as a platform for cooperation over the organisational borders between healthcare sectors in Sweden

“…In 2004, joint guidelines were drawn up and developed regarding how to detect those at risk for malnutrition, which in 2005, contributed as input to the fi rst large scale point prevalence study in Sweden on eating and nutrition (13). Th is study was followed up by two further studies in 2007 and 2009 that showed some improvement in nutritional care following an educational intervention (14)(15)(16). One indicator of success appeared to be due to the relatively fast feedback to each unit that had the ability to compare its performance with their own community or hospital (14).…”