Dementia Collaborative Research Centre: Carers & Consumers, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; Dementia Training Studies Centre, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia; School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
Int J Older People Nurs. 2014 Mar;9(1):54-64. doi: 10.1111/opn.12016. Epub 2013 Feb 11.
Undernutrition, weight loss and dehydration are major clinical issues for people with dementia in residential care, with excessive weight loss contributing to increased risk of frailty, immobility, illness and premature morbidity. This paper discusses a nutritional knowledge and attitudes survey conducted as part of a larger project focused on improving nutritional intake of people with dementia within a residential care facility in Brisbane, Australia.
The specific aims of the survey were to identify (i) knowledge of the nutritional needs of aged care facility residents; (ii) mealtime practices; and (iii) attitudes towards mealtime practices and organisation.
A survey based on those used in other healthcare settings was completed by 76 staff members. The survey included questions about nutritional knowledge, opinions of the food service, frequency of feeding assistance provided and feeding assessment practices.
Nutritional knowledge scores ranged from 1 to 9 of a possible 10, with a mean score of 4.67. While 76% of respondents correctly identified risk factors associated with malnutrition in nursing home residents, only 38% of participants correctly identified the need for increased protein and energy in residents with pressure ulcers, and just 15% exhibited correct knowledge of fluid requirements. Further, while nutritional assessment was considered an important part of practice by 83% of respondents, just 53% indicated that they actually carried out such assessments. Identified barriers to promoting optimal nutrition included insufficient time to observe residents (56%); being unaware of residents' feeding issues (46%); poor knowledge of nutritional assessments (44%); and unappetising appearance of food served (57%).
An important step towards improving health and quality of life for residents of aged care facilities would be to enhance staff nutritional awareness and assessment skills. This should be carried out through increased attention to both preservice curricula and on-the-job training.
The residential facility staff surveyed demonstrated low levels of nutrition knowledge, which reflects findings from the international literature. This has implications for the provision of responsive care to residents of these facilities and should be explored further.
营养不良、体重减轻和脱水是居住在养老院的痴呆症患者的主要临床问题，过度的体重减轻会增加虚弱、活动受限、患病和早逝的风险。本文讨论了一项营养知识和态度调查，该调查是作为一个更大项目的一部分进行的，该项目旨在改善澳大利亚布里斯班一家养老院中痴呆症患者的营养摄入。
该调查的具体目的是确定：(i) 了解养老院居民的营养需求；(ii) 就餐习惯；以及 (iii) 对就餐习惯和组织的态度。
对 76 名工作人员进行了基于其他医疗保健环境中使用的调查。该调查包括有关营养知识、对餐饮服务的看法、提供喂养辅助的频率以及喂养评估实践的问题。
营养知识得分范围为 1 到 10 分中的 1 分，平均得分为 4.67。虽然 76%的受访者正确识别了与养老院居民营养不良相关的风险因素，但只有 38%的参与者正确识别了压疮患者需要增加蛋白质和能量的需求，只有 15%的参与者正确了解液体需求。此外，尽管 83%的受访者认为营养评估是实践的重要组成部分，但只有 53%的受访者表示他们实际上进行了此类评估。阻碍促进最佳营养的因素包括观察居民的时间不足(56%)；不知道居民的喂养问题(46%)；对营养评估的知识不足(44%)；以及提供的食物外观不佳(57%)。
提高养老院居民的健康和生活质量的重要一步是提高员工的营养意识和评估技能。这应该通过增加对职前课程和在职培训的关注来实现。
接受调查的养老院工作人员的营养知识水平较低，这反映了国际文献中的发现。这对这些设施中居民的护理服务有影响，应该进一步探讨。
