Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T05:22:27.790Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ontario Older-Adult Programs: Self-Identified Interest in and Resources for Nutritional Risk Screening*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Heather H. Keller  and
Jacqueline Allen
Heather H. Keller*
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
Jacqueline Allen
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-a-part doivent être adressées à : Dr. Heather H. Keller, R.D., Ph.D., Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1. hkeller@uoguelph.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Older-adult community programs are significant partners in the identification of need and delivery of health care for seniors. At present there is no systematic screening for nutritional risk in Ontario, and the interest and resources of community programs to screen is unknown. From three Ontario organizational membership lists, 200 programs were randomly selected; 136 key informants completed and returned the survey. A diverse sample of programs was included. Most were providing some form of nutrition programming, with the most common being meal provision. Two thirds (67.7%) were collecting some form of nutrition information: 56.4 per cent had an assessment questionnaire with nutrition information, and 21.8 per cent had clients subjectively assess their own nutritional risk. Most providers were interested in the nutritional health of their clients, and over half were interested in formally screening for nutritional risk. Barriers to screening were also identified. It is clear that nutrition is an area of priority for community programs and that nutrition screening is desired. Barriers to ethical screening need to be addressed prior to implementation of a systematic screening program.

Résumé

Les programmes communautaires destinés aux personnes âgées sont des partenaires importants à l'identification des besoins et la livraison des soins de santé à ce groupe d'âge. En ce moment, il n'y a aucun dépistage systématique de risque alimentaire en Ontario. De même, l'intérêt et les ressources de ces programmes communautaires en matière de dépistage sont inconnus. À partir de trois listes de membres d'organismes ontariens, 200 programmes ont été choisis au hasard ; 136 personnes clés ont répondu au questionnaire et parmi les répondants, un échantillon varié de programmes y figurait. La majorité offrait un programme alimentaire quelconque. La prestation de repas est la composant la plus fréquente. Jusqu'à un certain point, deux-tiers (67,7 %) des organismes recueillaient des données au sujet de l'alimentation : 56,4 % des organismes détenaient un questionnaire de prélèvement comprenant des renseignements au sujet de l'alimentation et 21,8 % des organismes comprenaient des clients qui auto-évaluaient leurs risques alimentaires. La majorité des prestataires s'intéressaient à la santé alimentaire de leur clientèle et plus de la moitié des organismes désiraient adopter un dépistage formel de risque alimentaire. Les obstacles au dépistage ont aussi été identifiés. Il est évident que pour les programmes communautaires, l'alimentation est un domaine prioritaire et le dépistage alimentaire est souhaitable. Toutefois, les obstacles au dépistage moral doivent être abordés avant la mise en oeuvre d'un programme de dépistage systématique.

Keywords

agingseniorsnutritionscreeningservice providersvieillissementpersonnes âgéesalimentationdépistageprestataires de service
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2002 , pp. 587 - 594
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

The authors wish to thank VON, OCSA, and OACAO for their assistance with the survey, research assistant Sarah Fielden, and the senior service providers who participated in the survey.

References

Beck, A.M., Ovensen, L., & Osler, M. (1999). The “Mini-Nutritional Assessment” (MNA) and the “Determine Your Nutritional Health” Checklist (NSI Checklist) as predictors of morbidity and mortality in an elderly Danish Population. British Journal of Nutrition, 81, 31–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chappell, N.L. (1998). Maintaining and enhancing independence in old age. In National Forum on Health (Eds.), Determinants of Health Vol 2: Adults and Seniors (pp. 89–142). Sainte-Foy, QC: Editions Multimondes.Google Scholar
Chumlea, W.C., & Baumgartner, R.N. (1989). Status of anthropometry and body composition data in elderly subjects. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 50, 1158–1166.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davies, L., & Carr Knutson, K. (1991). Warning signals for malnutrition in the elderly. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 91, 1413–1417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Federal/Provincial/Territorial Working Group on Home Care (1990). Report on home care. Ottawa: Health Canada.Google Scholar
Gariballa, S.E., & Sinclair, A.J. (1998). Nutrition, aging and ill health. British Journal of Nutrition, 80, 7–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guigoz Y., Vellas, B.J., & Garry, P.J. (1994). The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA): A practical assessment tool for grading the nutritional state of elderly patients. Facts and Research in Gerontology, Supplement No. 2, 15–59.Google Scholar
Health Canada (1999). Facts on seniors. Retrieved 17 October 2002 from http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/seniors-aines/iyop_wrapup/english/m_facts.htm.Google Scholar
Jensen, G.L., Kita, K., Fish, J., Heydt, D., & Frey, C. (1997). Nutrition risk screening characteristics of rural older persons: Relation to functional limitations and health care changes. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 66, 819–828.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, H.H., & Hedley, M.R. (2002). Nutritional risk of community-living seniors: Prevalence of nutrition problems and priorities for action. Journal of Community Health 2002, 27(2):121–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keller, H.H., Hedley, M.R., & Wong Brownlee, S. (2000). The development of SCREEN - Seniors in the community: Risk evaluation for eating and nutrition. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research 61, 67–72.Google ScholarPubMed
Keller, H.H., McKenzie, J.D., & Goy, R.E. (2001). Construct validation and test-retest reliability of the “Seniors in the community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition” questionnaire. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 56A, M552–M558.Google Scholar
Keller, H.H., Ostbye, T., & Bright-See, E. (1997). Predictors of dietary intake in Ontario seniors. Canadian Journal of Public Health 1997, 88(5), 305–309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koski, K., Luukinen, H., Laippala, P., & Kivela, S.L. (1996). Physiological factors and medications as predictors of injurious falls by elderly people: A prospective population-based study. Age and Aging, 25, 29–38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landi, F., Zuccala, G., Gambassi, G., Incalzi, R.A., Manigrasso, L., Pagano, F., Carbonin, P., & Bernabei, R. (1999). Body mass index and mortality among older people living in the community. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 47, 1072–1076.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LaPerriere, B., & Bowmen, P. (1995). Community care. In Sawyer, E. & Stephenson, M. (Eds.), Continuing the care the issues and challenges for long-term care (pp. 135–150). Ottawa: CHA Press.Google Scholar
Martyn, C.N., Winter, P.D., Coles, S.J., & Edington, J. (1998). Effect of nutritional status on use of health care resources by patients with chronic disease living in the community. Clinical Nutrition, 17(3), 119–123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacLellan, D.L., & VanTil, L.D. (1998). Screening for nutritional risk among community-dwelling elderly on Prince Edward Island. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 89(5), 342–346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Minister of Health (1997). Mandatory health programs and services guidelines (Cat#2206557). Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario.Google Scholar
Mowe, M., & Bohmer, T. (1996). Nutrition problems among home-living elderly people may lead to disease and hospitalization. Nutrition Reviews, 54, S22–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Advisory Council on Aging (1999). 1999 and beyond: Challenges of an aging Canadian society. Ottawa: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.Google Scholar
Ostbye, T., Steenhuis, R., Wolfson, C., Walton, R., & Hill, G. (1999). Predictors of five-year mortality in older Canadians: the Canadian Study of Health and Aging. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 47, 1249–1254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Payette, H., Gray-Donald, K., Cyr, R., & Boutier, V. (1995). Predictors of dietary intake in a functionally dependent elderly population in the community. American Journal of Public Health, 85, 677–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitters, S. (1995). Long-term care facilities. In Swayer, E. & Stephenson, M. (Eds.), Continuing the care the issues and challenges for long-term care (pp. 162, 178). Ottawa: CHA Press.Google Scholar
Rea, I.M., Gillen, S., & Clarke, E. (1997). Anthropometric measurements from a cross-sectional survey of community dwelling subjects aged over 90 years of age. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 51, 102–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reuben, D.B., Greendale, G.A., & Harrison, G. (1995). Nutrition screening in older persons. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43, 415–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vailas, L.I., Nitzke, S.A., Becker, M., & Gast, J. (1998). Risk indicators for malnutrition are associated inversely with quality of life for participants in meal programs for older adults. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 98, 548–553.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vickery, C.E., Camasso, A.E., & Cotugna, N. (1993). Nutrition screening practices in adult day care centers: A national survey. Journal of Nutrition for the Elderly, 12(4), 43–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
White, J.V. (1991). Risk factors for poor nutritional status in older Americans. American Family Physician, 44, 2087–2097.Google ScholarPubMed
White, J.V. (1996). The Nutrition Screening Initiative: A 5-year perspective. Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 11, 89–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Health Organization (1995). Physical status: The use and interpretation of anthropometry. (Report of a WHO Expert Committee). Geneva: Author.Google Scholar