Evaluation of oral feeding function is extremely important for maintaining health in the elderly, especially to prevent undernutrition, infectious diseases, and aspiration pneumonia. There is a strong need for a method that will easily allow caregivers to evaluate oral feeding function.
We have established an Oral and Food Function Support Promotion Study Group in collaboration with the Taihoku Dental Association and Omachi General Hospital to create a support system comprising communitybased care involving interoccupational cooperation. We designed an oral feeding function evaluation tool comprising eight items to easily screen the oral feeding function of subjects. This evaluation tool was tested and verified in a welfare facility for the elderly, and we report the results of our analysis. Furthermore, we assessed the validity of this system for an oral feeding function tool.
We divided 63 residents into the intervention group and the meal-round nonintervention group. We used the evaluation tool, which used photographs, to assess their oral feeding function．According to the results, the meal round was conducted and linked with the guidance and treatment. The degree of improvement observed was compared between the two groups.
The intervention group showed an improvement rate of more than 51％ in four items, whereas the nonintervention group showed an improvement in two. Moreover, the number of subjects hospitalized due to aspiration pneumonia decreased after the intervention.
We found that the introduction of an evaluation tool and collaboration between interoccupational Interdisciplinary care staff aroused interest and attentive engagement in oral feeding function.
