Dataset Information

Sharing meals: promising nutritional interventions for primary health care including nursing students and elderly people.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The risk of malnutrition among elderly people is high and living alone increases the risk. As the number of older persons living alone is expected to increase due to the demographic development of an increasing older population, more knowledge about low-cost, sustainable nutritional interventions is needed. The purpose of this study was to investigate how nursing students can be a resource in the nutritional care of older persons living alone by sharing weekly meals.

Methods

Twenty-three nursing students and 23 elderly people who lived alone and received home nursing care participated in the project period of 9 weeks and shared 1-2 weekly meals. Shortly after the study period, 13 students and 4 elderly persons were interviewed in individual, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews. The questions included their experiences, the perceived impact of sharing meals, and facilitators and barriers of such meal interventions. The interview material was transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman.

Results

Our study found that both nursing students and older persons expressed positive experiences from sharing meals. Nursing students with some nutritional knowledge can provide a useful, sustainable supplement to the home-care nursing staff's limited resources and time. Improvements were found, including preparation of ready meals and the meal environment, different facilitators and barriers of the meal experience, and the possible positive impact on the elderly persons' nutritional status, which affects meal enjoyment, appetite, food intake and weight.

Conclusion

During their practical placement in the community, nursing students can provide a useful contribution to the nutritional care of elderly persons who are at nutritional risk living alone at home by the intervention of sharing a meal together. This is a low-cost supplement to other primary health-care measures that can affect both nutritional status and adjust the appropriate care for patients. This study demonstrates a small contribution to the complex nutritional care literature based on the growing elderly population in home care and the nursing student as a valuable resource for the multidisciplinary team approach necessary to meet this challenge.

SUBMITTER: Alne EKF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8048158 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundCountries vary in the number of qualified nurses employed in older adult services. Moreover, students' views of older people nursing as a career differ internationally. Studying future nurses and their career intentions for the field is warranted to meet the increased nurse workforce expectations in terms of quantity and competence.AimTo analyse graduating nurse students' interest in older people nursing and the factors associated with it.MethodsA cross-sectional multicountry survey design was applied. Data were collected between May 2018 and March 2019 from several educational institutions in Finland, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania and Spain. Non-probability convenience sampling was used to recruit graduating nurse students (n = 1796). The data were collected with a structured questionnaire comprising background factors and the Willingness sub-scale (six items) of the Students' Interest in Nursing Older People Scale. Data were analysed using a linear mixed model including relevant background variables.ResultsOverall, students' interest in older people nursing was low (score 20.5, on a 0-100 scale). Among the studied countries, Spanish students scored the highest (38.8) and German students the lowest (3.6). Students' interest in older people nursing was associated with country (p < .001), the length of work experience (p = .006), plans for further study (p = .007), competence (p < .001) and the extent that nursing is valued by society (p < .001). The students who were most interested in older people nursing had higher self-reported competence level (p < .001).ConclusionIn the studied sample of future nurse professionals, interest in older people nursing is low at a time when the field suffers from workforce shortage. As for quality workforce, it was promising that the students who considered working in the field also evaluated themselves as competent.Implications for practiceMultidimensional actions are required to promote interest in the field, including continued development of competence in both undergraduate education and workplaces, and investing in various career pathways to envisage potential opportunities.