2025 Volume 45 Pages 550-560
Objective: To elucidate the factors associated with the implementation of assessment to determine whether older adults who are not eating (“non-eating”) but require feeding assistance wish to eat (hereafter referred to as “willingness to eat”) by nurses in nursing homes.
Methods: Questionnaires were administered to 790 nurses. Binomial logistic regression analysis was conducted, with the implementation of the assessment as the dependent variable and nurses’ attributes and perceptions of “non-eating” older adults as independent variables.
Results: Among the 154 respondents, 74.7% reported conducting the assessment. Four factors were associated with implementation: placing importance on the experience of savoring food even in small quantities (odds ratio [OR]: 3.866), prioritizing the experience of savoring food over consuming larger amounts (OR: 3.740), recognizing the ability to assess willingness to eat based on older adults’ reactions (OR: 2.609), and scores on a moral sensitivity scale for nurses who work at nursing homes (OR: 1.061).
Conclusion: Nurses’ awareness of eating as a pleasurable experience, even in small amounts, was associated with the implementation of assessment to determine older adults’ willingness to eat.
