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BACKGROUND & AIMS

During recent years public awareness about malnutrition has increased and collective initiatives have been undertaken. Simultaneously, the number of older adults is increasing, and the elderly care has been placed under pressure. The aim was to assess the nutritional situation and one-year mortality among nursing home (NH) residents, and compare with historical data.

METHODS

Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF), ADL Barthel Index (BI), Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), EQ-5D, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and blood samples were collected from 172 NH residents (86.3 ± 8 years, 70% women). Mortality data was taken from NH records. Nutritional data from 166 NH residents (83.8 ± 8 years, 61% women) examined in 1996 was retrieved for historical comparison.

RESULTS

The prevalence of malnutrition was 30%, as compared to 71% in the historical data set, corresponding to a present average body mass index of 23.7 ± 5.1 compared with 22.3 ± 4.2 kg/m(2) (p < 0.01). Reduced nutritional status was associated with decline in function (p < 0.001) and cognition (p < 0.01). One-year mortality was 24%. Regression analyses indicated high age (OR = 1.09, 95% CI (1.03-1.16)), high scores in CCI (OR = 1.54, (1.19-1.99)), low BMI (OR = 2.47, (1.14-5.38)) and malnutrition (OR = 2.37, (1.07-5.26)) to be independently associated with one-year mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Malnutrition still prevails and is associated with deteriorated cognition, function and increased mortality. A possible improvement in nutritional status in NH residents over time was observed.

Rationale: Suboptimal nutritional practices in elderly caresettings may be resolved by an efficient introduction ofnutritional guidelines.Aims: To compare two different implementation strate-gies, external facilitation (EF) and educational outreachvisits (EOVs), when introducing nutritional guidelines innursing homes (NHs), and study the impact on staffperformance.Methodological design: A quasi-experimental study withbaseline and follow-up measurements.Outcome measures: The primary outcome was staff perfor-mance as a function of mealtime ambience and food ser-vice routines.Interventions/research methods: The EF strategy was a 1-year,multifaceted intervention that included support, guidance,practice audit and feedback in two NH units. The EOVstrategy comprised one-three-hour lecture about nutri-tional guidelines in two other NH units. Both strategieswere targeted to selected NH teams, which consisted of aunit manager, a nurse and 5–10 care staff. Mealtime ambi-ence was evaluated by 47 observations using a structuredmealtime instrument. Food service routines were evalu-ated by 109 food records performed by the staff.Results: Mealtime ambience was more strongly improvedin the EF group than in the EOV group after the imple-mentation. Factors improved were laying a table(p = 0.03), offering a choice of beverage (p = 0.02), theserving of the meal (p = 0.02), interactions between staffand residents (p = 0.02) and less noise from the kitchen(p = 0.01). Food service routines remained unchanged inboth groups.Conclusions: An EF strategy that included guidance, auditand feedback improved mealtime ambience when nutri-tional guidelines were introduced in a nursing home set-ting, whereas food service routines were unchanged bythe EF strategy.

Objectives: Studies on implementation techniques that focus on nutrition in the setting of elderly care are scarce. The aims of this study were to compare two implementation strategies i.e., external facilitation ( EF) and educational outreach visits ( EOVs), in order to introduce nutritional guidelines ( e.g. screening, food quality and mealtime ambience), into a nursing home ( NH) setting and to evaluate the clinical outcomes. Design: A controlled study with baseline and follow-up measurements. Setting: Four NHs. Participants: A total of 101 NH residents. Intervention: The EF was a one-year, multifaceted intervention that included support, guidance, practice audits, and feedback that were provided to two NHs. The EOVs performed at the other NHs consisted of one session of three hours of lectures about the guidelines. Both interventions targeted a team of the unit manager, the head nurse, and 5-10 of the care staff. Measurements: The outcomes were nutritional status ( Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form, MNA-SF), body mass index ( BMI), functional ability ( Barthel Index, BI), cognitive function ( Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, SPMSQ, performed in a subgroup of communicative NH residents), health-related quality of life ( EQ-5D), and the levels of certain biochemical markers like for example vitamin D, albumin and insulin-like growth factor 1. Results: After a median of 18 months, nutritional parameters ( MNA-SF and BMI) remained unchanged in both groups. While there were no differences in most outcomes between the two groups, the cognitive ability of those in the EOV group deteriorated more than in individuals in the EF group ( p=0.008). Multiple linear regression analyses indicated that the intervention group assignment ( EF) was independently from other potentially related factors associated with less cognitive decline. Conclusion: An extended model of implementation of nutritional guidelines, including guidance and feedback to NH staff, did not affect nutritional status but may be associated with a delayed cognitive decline in communicative NH residents.

Background: Translating nutrition knowledge into care practice is challenging since multiple factors can affect the implementation process. This study examined the impact of two implementation strategies, that is external facilitation (EF) and educational outreach visits (EOVs), on the organisational context and individual factors when implementing nutritional guidelines in a nursing home (NH) setting.

Methods: The EF strategy was a one-year, multifaceted (including support, guidance, a practice audit and feedback) intervention given to four NH units. The EOV strategy was a three-hour lecture about the nutritional guidelines given to four other NH units. Both strategies were directed at selected NH teams, consisting of a unit manager, a nurse and 5-10 care staff. A questionnaire was distributed, before and after the interventions, to evaluate the prerequisites for the staff to use the guidelines. Three conditions were used to examine the organisational context and the individual factors: the staff's ability and willingness to implement the nutritional guidelines and their understanding of them. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models were used for the data analysis.

Results: The results indicated that on average, there was a significant increase in the staff's ability to implement the nutritional guidelines in the EF group. The staff exposed to the EF strategy experienced better resources to implement the guidelines in terms of time, tools and support from leadership and a clearer assignment of responsibility regarding nutrition procedures. There was no change in staff's willingness and understanding of the guidelines in the EF group. On average, no significant changes were observed for the staff's ability, willingness or understanding in the EOV group.

Conclusions: A long-term, active and flexible implementation strategy (i.e. EF) affected the care staff's ability to implement the nutritional guidelines in an NH setting. No such impact was observed for the more passive, educational approach (i.e. EOV).