Endevelt Ronit, Werner Perla, Stone Osnat
Department of Public Health, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
J Nutr Elder. 2006;26(1-2):45-58. doi: 10.1300/J052v26n01_03.
The elderly are becoming a significant segment of the public receiving medical nutritional care in the community. Since dietitians are the professionals responsible for their nutritional care, the aim of this study was to assess dietitians' attitudes and correlates regarding elderly nutritional factors.
Questionnaires were distributed at a dietitians' conference to 114 dietitians working in the second largest HMO in Israel. Ninety-five questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire assessed different aspects of elderly nutrition, such as factors affecting elderly nutrition, medical conditions influenced by nutrition, and the dietitian's role in modifying elderly nutritional habits.
Participants reported that between 25% and 50% of their patients were elderly. They believed that dietitians are the only health care professionals who should be giving nutritional advice to the elderly. The more experienced dietitians were willing to share nutritional treatment plans with the patients' physicians. The participants in this study believed that nutritional advice may influence the elderly to change their nutritional habits. They recognized the impact that nutrition can have on different health conditions and identified a variety of factors affecting elderly nutrition, especially functional and medical conditions.
Overall, dietitians working in the community viewed themselves as the main professionals responsible for counseling the elderly on nutritional issues. Although dietitians perceived their knowledge and skills in this area as very good, the researchers identified a need for further education, especially regarding the possible influence of socio-demographic characteristics on dietary intake and the value of educating the elderly to read and understand nutrition labels.
老年人正成为社区中接受医学营养护理的重要群体。由于营养师是负责其营养护理的专业人员，本研究的目的是评估营养师对老年人营养因素的态度及相关因素。
在一次营养师会议上，向以色列第二大健康维护组织（HMO）工作的114名营养师发放问卷。共收回95份问卷。该问卷评估了老年人营养的不同方面，如影响老年人营养的因素、受营养影响的医疗状况以及营养师在改变老年人营养习惯方面的作用。
参与者报告称，他们的患者中有25%至50%为老年人。他们认为营养师是唯一应该为老年人提供营养建议的医疗保健专业人员。经验越丰富的营养师越愿意与患者的医生分享营养治疗计划。本研究的参与者认为营养建议可能会促使老年人改变他们的营养习惯。他们认识到营养对不同健康状况的影响，并确定了多种影响老年人营养的因素，尤其是功能和医疗状况。
总体而言，在社区工作的营养师认为自己是负责就营养问题为老年人提供咨询的主要专业人员。尽管营养师认为自己在这方面的知识和技能非常出色，但研究人员发现有必要进一步开展教育，特别是关于社会人口统计学特征对饮食摄入可能产生的影响以及教育老年人阅读和理解营养标签的价值。
