Lowndes Ruth, Armstrong Pat, Daly Tamara
Research Associate, York University.
York University.
Food Stud. 2015 Jan 1;4(1):19-34.
To explore the social organization of food provision in publicly funded and regulated long-term care facilities.
Observations were conducted, along with 90 interviews with residents, families, and health providers in two Southern Ontario sites using rapid site-switching ethnography within a feminist political economy framework as part of an international, interdisciplinary study investigating healthy ageing.
Food is purchased within a daily $7.80/per resident allotment, limiting high quality choices, which is further problematized by privatization of food services. Funding restrictions also result in low staffing levels, creating tensions in aligning with other Ministry mandated tasks such as bathing, and documenting: competing demands often lead to rushed meals. Regulations, primarily set in response to scandals and to ensure appropriate measured nutrition, reinforce the problem. Further, regulations regarding set meal times result in lack of resident agency, which is compounded by fixed menu options and seating arrangements in one common dining room. Rather than being viewed as an important part of resident socialization, food is reduced to a medicalized task, organized within a climate of cost-containment.
Findings warrant Ministry financial support for additional staff and for food provision. Policy changes are also required to give primacy to this population's quality of life.
探讨公共资助和监管的长期护理机构中食品供应的社会组织形式。
在安大略省南部的两个地点进行了观察，并对居民、家属和医疗服务提供者进行了90次访谈，采用快速地点转换民族志方法，置于女性主义政治经济框架内，作为一项调查健康老龄化的国际跨学科研究的一部分。
食品采购按每位居民每天7.80加元的拨款进行，限制了高质量食品的选择，而食品服务的私有化使这一问题更加严重。资金限制还导致人员配备水平较低，在与卫生部规定的其他任务（如洗澡和记录）协调时产生紧张关系：相互竞争的需求常常导致用餐匆忙。主要为应对丑闻和确保适当的营养配给而制定的规定加剧了这一问题。此外，关于固定用餐时间的规定导致居民缺乏自主权，而在一个公共餐厅固定的菜单选择和座位安排又使这一情况更加复杂。食品供应没有被视为居民社交活动的重要组成部分，而是沦为一项在成本控制环境下组织的医疗任务。
研究结果表明卫生部需要提供财政支持，增加工作人员和食品供应。还需要进行政策改革，将这一群体的生活质量放在首位。
