One hundred nursing home residents who were not eating well were followed for a period of six months or longer. Eighty two percent of the residents were below their ideal weight. Typically, when residents begin to lose weight, rather than investigating the underlying problem and correcting it, oral commercial oral supplements are ordered. Thus, they are denied the pleasure of eating food during the last months of their lives. Moreover, in a large percentage of the cases the supplements are not consumed because of staff's lack of responsibility and vigilance.
Some residents continue to lose weight and some die from undernutrition.
The findings of this study have important implications for improving the health, quality of care and qualify of life of older people. Additionally, numerous implications for health policy have emerged. Furthermore, medical schools and schools of nursing must include content on the physiology and pathophysiology of swallowing and the clinical management of swallowing disorders in their curricula, and finally, the provision of dental care in nursing homes and in the community needs to be examined and improved dramatically. Copyright 1999 University of California Regents. If you experience any difficulty with this site, please email our web developer .