Page 69 - Petelin, Ana, ur. 2021. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo / Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
P. 69
rition support teams in social care institutions prehrana in zdravje starejših odraslih | nutrition and health of the elderly
Kemal Ejub, Alen Mahmutović, Valentina Syla, Andrej Starc
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction. The number of elderly people in Western countries has been in-
creasing over the past years. The proper nutrition status among the elderly is
very important because malnourished elderly people have five times higher
mortality on admission compared to well nourished. Nutritional malnourish-
ment in social care institutions is present in a range of 35-85%. Detecting mal-
nutrition is key to establishing systemic nutritional screening. Adequate nu-
tritional support, which can be provided by various experts (dietitian, nurse,
doctor), is of greatest importance when dealing with malnourished people.
Unfortunately, the presence of a nutrition team in social care institutions is a
rarity rather than a normal practice.
Methods. A systematic review of scientific literature was conducted using Pu-
bMed, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases. The
keywords used were: nutrition support teams, nursing care, nutritional care,
mobile nutrition support team, mobile health clinics. The literature that was in-
cluded had to be written in English language, published between 1995 and 2020
and needed to provide free and full access to the text. A methodological ‘PRIS-
MA approach’ was used to review and select the proper articles.
Results. In the literature review, our search resulted in 1354 articles. After tak-
ing into account all inclusion and exclusion criteria only 17 studies were includ-
ed. When reviewing the literature, we found out that the presence of mal-
nutrition among patients in social care institutions ranged between 35-38%.
Identifying and preventing malnutrition in social care institutions can involve dif-
ferent approaches ( individual, multidisciplinary and with the help of a mobile
nutrition team).
Discussion and conclusion. Nutritional treatment in social care institutions can be
carried out with the help of an individual, multidisciplinary or mobile nutrition
team. Regardless of the approach chosen in the patient’s nutritional treatment,
teamwork (physician, dietitian, nurse, cooks) is the most important. When
planning a diet, it is important to take into account age-related changes and the
presence of various diseases. An early dietary approach has been found to re-
duce complications during treatment, reduce hospital stays with disease exac-
erbation, and reduce morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Nutritional
support arrangements require certain financial resources. Due to the lack of fi-
nancial resources, we propose arrangement of nutrition support with the help
of mobile nutrition teams as it requires lower operating costs in the long run
compared to conventional nutrition support systems in social welfare institu-
tions.
Keywords: nutrition support, nutrition support arrangements, social care
institutions
67
Kemal Ejub, Alen Mahmutović, Valentina Syla, Andrej Starc
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction. The number of elderly people in Western countries has been in-
creasing over the past years. The proper nutrition status among the elderly is
very important because malnourished elderly people have five times higher
mortality on admission compared to well nourished. Nutritional malnourish-
ment in social care institutions is present in a range of 35-85%. Detecting mal-
nutrition is key to establishing systemic nutritional screening. Adequate nu-
tritional support, which can be provided by various experts (dietitian, nurse,
doctor), is of greatest importance when dealing with malnourished people.
Unfortunately, the presence of a nutrition team in social care institutions is a
rarity rather than a normal practice.
Methods. A systematic review of scientific literature was conducted using Pu-
bMed, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases. The
keywords used were: nutrition support teams, nursing care, nutritional care,
mobile nutrition support team, mobile health clinics. The literature that was in-
cluded had to be written in English language, published between 1995 and 2020
and needed to provide free and full access to the text. A methodological ‘PRIS-
MA approach’ was used to review and select the proper articles.
Results. In the literature review, our search resulted in 1354 articles. After tak-
ing into account all inclusion and exclusion criteria only 17 studies were includ-
ed. When reviewing the literature, we found out that the presence of mal-
nutrition among patients in social care institutions ranged between 35-38%.
Identifying and preventing malnutrition in social care institutions can involve dif-
ferent approaches ( individual, multidisciplinary and with the help of a mobile
nutrition team).
Discussion and conclusion. Nutritional treatment in social care institutions can be
carried out with the help of an individual, multidisciplinary or mobile nutrition
team. Regardless of the approach chosen in the patient’s nutritional treatment,
teamwork (physician, dietitian, nurse, cooks) is the most important. When
planning a diet, it is important to take into account age-related changes and the
presence of various diseases. An early dietary approach has been found to re-
duce complications during treatment, reduce hospital stays with disease exac-
erbation, and reduce morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Nutritional
support arrangements require certain financial resources. Due to the lack of fi-
nancial resources, we propose arrangement of nutrition support with the help
of mobile nutrition teams as it requires lower operating costs in the long run
compared to conventional nutrition support systems in social welfare institu-
tions.
Keywords: nutrition support, nutrition support arrangements, social care
institutions
67
