Social Care TV
Better knowledge for better practice
Nutritional care for older people
About
Key messages for practice
1. Food and mealtimes are a high priority for older people and affect their quality of life.
2. Malnutrition affects over 10% of older people.
3. Routine screening should be carried out to identify those at risk of malnutrition and action should be taken to ensure those at risk receive the right support.
4. Giving older people the time, help and encouragement they need to eat can help.
What is the video about?
This film highlights the importance of good nutritional care and hydration for older people living in residential care and in their own homes. The film promotes the use of the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) in identifying those at risk of malnutrition through a simple body mass index calculation. Where height and weight are difficult to measure the tool suggests alternatives. It is available at http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide15/files/must.pdf . Food and mealtimes are very important to older people. The film shows how listening to what older people want to eat and preparing fresh food can enhance the mealtime experience. The benefits of good hydration are also highlighted.
Who will find this useful?
Commissioners, care catering staff, front line care workers, managers of residential and home care services and unpaid carers.
Keywords
Copyright
All material on this website, including videos, text, graphics and photographs, is copyright of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), unless otherwise stated. Videos, text and graphics may be freely reproduced for the purposes of any personal or educational use or private research. However, the use of any videos, text, graphics or photographs contained in this website for any commercial purposes is not authorised unless permission is first obtained from SCIE. For further details view the Terms of use.
Disclaimer
SCIE is committed to the highest standards of information quality and every attempt has been made to provide up to date and accurate information. However, SCIE gives no warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy of the information on this website and accepts no liability for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of reliance on such information. The views expressed in this video are purely those of the person or people that feature in it and should not be regarded as reflecting the official position of the Social Care Institute of Excellence. For further details view the Terms of use.