Almost half of all elderly residents in Australian aged care facilities are malnourished, a new study (link) in the Australasian Journal of Ageing (27: 189-194) suggests.

Following the nutritional assessment of over 350 high care residents in eight aged care facilities in Queensland, researchers determined that 43% were moderately malnourished and 6.5% were severely malnourished.

Increasing age and greater care needs increased the risk of malnutrition.

But despite the high prevalence of malnutrition, researchers found very few of malnourished residents (18%) had been seen by a dietition or were receiving supplements (29%).

According to the study authors, a major part of the problem is the responsibility for daily nutritional care, such as encouragement and assistance with meals, provision of supplements and monitoring of food and fluid intake falls largely onto care staff. And the study showed general awareness among care staff of the importance of nutrition on resident outcomes is variable.

In addition oral health, that can have a significant impact on nutritional status, was found to be poorly recorded and oral assessments often outdated.

“Most causes of malnutrition in [residential aged care facilities] are modifiable and central to improving this is greater staff awareness, better assessment skills of care staff and adequate overall management of nutritional care,” the study authors concluded. 

Source: www.6minutes.com.au - by Dr Linda Calabresi