2012 Volume 34 Issue 3 Pages 403-411
The malnutrition of the elderly weakens their immune function, which eventually causes the decline of their health status. Thus, the improvement in the malnutrition of the elderly is important in order to avoid their institutionalization or hospitalization.
However, there is little knowledge about how the malnutrition of the elderly is managed by health and long-term care professionals, the elderly themselves and their families. Thus, this research examines problems in daily living support services to improve nutrition status for the elderly in communities.
We interviewed doctors and staff of a Comprehensive Support Center, and the data were analyzed by the Grounded Theory Approach. The results indicated that the conditions of malnutrition among the elderly were often ignored by health and long-term care professionals as well as the elderly themselves and their families. Also, our result indicated the importance in recognition of the needs of daily living support services to improve nutrition by a Comprehensive Support Center in order to sustain elders’ condition. Thus, it is essential for family members and neighbors to provide the information about the elderly with malnutrition to Comprehensive Support Centers, which contribute to the nutritional support of the elders.
