Nutritional Care for Adults in Nursing Homes: A Scoping Review

Abstract

The need for improved nutrition in older adults requiring care has been acknowledged, but, to the best of our knowledge, there is a lack of systematic review and integration of nutritional care studies with older adults in nursing homes. This scoping review aimed to examine the scope and nature of nutritional care research for older adults in nursing homes and to identify research gaps, following the guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute. We found varied nutritional care for older adults living in nursing homes, including individualized sessions, such as nutrition counseling, the addition of foods and preparations for increased nutritional intake, and the maintenance of an eating environment, such as feeding assistance and calling. The nutritional care identified in this scoping review also included studies that have improved the nutritional status of older adults in nursing homes by implementing educational programs for care staff. For future research on effective nutritional care for older adults in nursing homes, we suggest evaluating both short- and long-term intervention effects with an adequate sample size.