Nutritional health promotion for older adults, where is the content?

Abstract

Purpose: To describe nurse practitioners' (NPs') educational experiences related to older adult nutrition and eating abilities.

Data sources: Descriptive research with written survey data collected from 80 gerontological NPs recruited from a national nursing conference.

Conclusions: Older adults' nutritional health has been related to acute illness, pressure sore development, prolonged hospital stays, and other health problems. Current literature suggests that although nutrition screening and intervention promote older adults' health, practitioners may not consistently receive education on this content. Participants indicated that gerontological-nutrition content was important, that it was missing from their educational programs, and that it needed to be a part of the NP curriculum. Specific nutrition content concerns were organized by the categories (a) disease and functional issues, (b) psychosocial support and environmental impact, and (c) health care team and system considerations.

Implications for practice: NP programs need to self-evaluate for adequate and appropriate nutrition screening and intervention content. Frameworks such as those developed by the Nutrition Screening Initiative and others provide beginning guidance for further content development.