Foods Rich in Nutrients and Meals On Wheels Association of America - Research Paper Example

Running Head: Foods Rich in Nutrients for the Elderly. Foods Rich in Nutrients Food Rich in Nutrients. Meals On Wheels Association of America is the single national organization with a clear dedication to stopping hunger among the elderly population of America. It is the biggest and oldest association made of and representing local, Community Based elderly nutrition programs in the fifty states and territories of America. MOWAA works through an army of volunteers nationwide whose common goal is to ensure that our seniors have a descent life in terms of having meals on the table every day, and being able to live in their own homes. The association recently partnered with Verified volunteers in an effort to speed up, smoothen and ultimately ease the entire process of screening the background information of volunteers. This report is mainly targeted for MOWAA and other NGO’s concerned with elimination of senior hunger. An important recommendation is for the organizations to ensure the elderly persons are provided with food rich in nutrition. This because these people are more prone to consuming less as a result of their poor economic conditions, their deteriorating immune systems and indoors life which reduces their exposure to essential things such as exercise and exposure to the sun. By doing this we will be able to significantly curb malnutrition among the elderly, reverse the situation n those who are already malnourished and reduce hospitalizations due to malnutrition. The ultimate is an improve quality of life for the elderly and as well reduction in avoidable mortalities among the elderly. The research is basically done using quantitative methods and questionnaires. These were used to gather the important nutritional information among the elderly on which this report is premised. Available information on the health status of senior citizens from MOWAA, historical health data and mortality rates as well as the causes of the mortality are central in the evaluation of the current state in order to forge and recommend the way to approach the question going forward. Table of Contents. Page Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………5 Problem Statement………………………………………………………………………………..5 Research Methodology …………………………………………………………………………...5 Findings …………………………………………………………………………………………..6 Analysis of Findings……………………………………………………………………….……...6 Conclusion and Recommendation………………………………………………………………...7 Executive Summery. The Meals on wheels association of America plays a very important role of ensuring our elderly people receive a meal at least every day and are able to live a comfortable life in their own homes. This report focuses on the various challenges facing the senior citizens culminating in their nutritional problems and therefore the goal is recommend to MOWAA on the nutritional status and requirements of the elderly population. It is clear the elderly are experiencing progressive loss of activity and thus cannot on their own prepare quality food, they have financial problems and hence their prevalent malnutrition. It is therefore important to ensure the elderly get a dietary supply that is nutritionally rich. Introduction. Meals On Wheels Association of America is the single national organization with a clear dedication to stopping hunger among the elderly population of America. It is the biggest and oldest association made of and representing local, Community Based elderly nutrition programs in the fifty states and territories of America. It has over 5,000 local programs with more than two million volunteers caring for the elderly. The sole aim is to ensure the nation’s senior citizens lead an independent life, stay health and live comfortable in their homes. Its partnership with Verified Volunteers will serve to bolster its efforts in seamlessly and speedily screening the background information of volunteers who would like to come on board and assist in the noble course. Our population of senior citizens is faced with many challenges which culminate in nutrition problems and efforts such as MOWAA’s coupled to good nutrition plans will go a long way in increasing the quality of life led by these important citizens. Problem Statement. The senior citizens are faced with a myriad of psychological, physiological and social challenges which culminate in their progressive loss of functional ability and ultimately under-nutrition. It is therefore important that we join hands in giving this group of citizens a quality life and one such initiative is in the MOWAA’s programs. For obvious reasons the elderly are at the greatest risk of malnutrition and as such, apart from just giving them a meal and ensuring they are able to live in their homes we also need to ensure they are getting meals which are highly rich in essential nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and proteins. Research Methodology. These research was specifically focused on the nutrition status of the elderly population in America as we as the challenges they face and the methods of intervention that can be implemented to give a quality life to our seniors. We obtained data from nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and also in the community on the prevalence of malnutrition among the elderly in America. Collection of the information was basically by qualitative methods and questionnaires. The questionnaires were used in the communities as well as the institutions to gather senior nutritional information used in the making of the report. Information gathered also included the factors contributing to the challenges faced by the elderly people. Findings. From this research it comes out clear that aging has far reaching effects on nutrition of individuals. Aging is associated with sensory impairment in terms of taste, smell, vision, hearing and dental health problems. This results in a reduction in appetite, inability to buy and make good food for themselves as well as inflammation, and chewing difficulties. There is also a marked alteration in energy requirements due lack of essential nutrients in diet, lost physical activity, sarcopenia, physical isolation and financial difficulties. As such they have a limited access to the much needed balance diet and hence poor nutrition. The cumulative effect is for the elderly to progressively move into malnutrition. A very common finding of this research is that nutrition is a big challenge in the elderly population and most of them are having diets which are inadequate in terms of the essential elements. One in every four of the old adults is having malnourishment and two in every four are at a very high risk of being malnourished. It also emerges that loss of weight which is often unintentional among the elderly people interferes with their physical capabilities hence increasing their health risks. The loss of weight could result from medications, emotional issues, anorexia, late life Paranoia and problems swallowing. As a result of the malnourishment most of them encounter problems such as immune-compromisation, fatigue, inactivity, poor regulation of temperature, problems healing wounds, poor homeostasis and impaired social psychological functioning (Lundgren, 2012) . Analysis of findings. The findings gave very interesting trends on analysis based on figures from the different areas under study. In the nursing homes for instance 14% person percent of the elderly people were seen to be malnourished, 53% are at a high risk of becoming malnourished while 33% percent were normally nourished. Among the hospitalized elderly people 39% were malnourished, 47% at risk of malnutrition and only 14 percent normally nourished. Rehabilitation centers had the highest number of malnourished elders at 50%, with 41% at great risk and a paltry 9% having normal nutrition status. Finally in the community malnutrition among the elderly stood at 6% risk for malnutrition at 32% and 62% were normally nourished. (MOWAA, 2014). The analysis is tabulated as below. Malnourished At Risk Normally Nourished n=4274 Nursing Home 14% 53% 33% n=1586 Hospitalized 39% 47% 14% n=1384 Rehabilitation 50% 41% 9% n=340 Community 6% 32% 62% n=964 Source. Kaiser MJ et al. World wide data on malnutrition in the elderly according to the Mini Nutritional Assessment® Insights from an international pooled database. Presented at 31st ESPEN Congress on Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism 2009. Conclusion and Recommendations. In conclusion therefore malnutrition is an important problem facing the elderly population and calls for urgent measures to reverse the situation. Very few elderly people are normally nourished and therefore should be screened regularly in order to avoid the problem. A very huge population is at risk and this calls for urgent nutritional intervention as well as monitoring to avert chances of moving to malnourishment. Those already malnourished also call for immediate interventions including nutritional supplementation, dietary improvements, close weight management and further assessment of the overall nutritional needs. It is evident that nutrition is important for elderly people due to their age and deterioration of many physiological functions. They need a good balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins even with the declining requirement for calorie. Protein intake should be particularly be increased as it is important in maintenance of physiological, metabolic and functional process; at the age of 70 and above females should take at least 57g per day while males should take 73g per day. Vitamin D is another very important nutrient owing to their indoors life, insufficient uptake and limited sunshine exposure. It is plays a major role in the health of bones and other physiological functions and at the age of 70 and above should take at least 800IU. Due to their poor dietary intake elderly people are also prone to mineral deficiencies and as such when giving them food it is important to ensure they are supplied with important minerals such as fluoride, calcium magnesium and phosphorus to support their physiological functioning and healthy being. References. 1. Collins, CO, and Alexandria, VA. (2014). Verified Volunteers and the Meals On Wheels Association of America Partner to Offer Online Volunteer Screening Platform. http://www.prweb.com/releases/volunteerscreening/verifiedvolunteers/prweb11895458.htm 2. Ellie Hollander. (2014). Reversing the Realities of Growing Old in America. retrieved at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ellie-hollander/reversing-the-realities- o_b_5406101.html 3. Karen Lundgren. (2012). The Elderly: Nutritional Needs, Challenges, Screening and Solutions. The Nestle Nutrition Institute. http://www.nestle- nutrition.com/nirf/cm2/upload/C2F33D34-9316-4155-9F0F- 58FDD9E638D9/HANDOUTS-Nestle-Webinar-052412-Slides-For-Recording.pdf 4. Meals On Wheels Association of America. (2014). Senior Hunger Facts. Appendices. Appendix 1. Practical food suggestions for people who are malnourished. Source http://www.bpac.org.nz/BPJ/2011/May/elderly.aspx Healthy eating guidelines promote low fat and low sugar food choices. Patients who are malnourished or losing weight unintentionally, however, must rely on fat and sugar as concentrated sources of calories. The benefit of energy dense foods in these circumstances should be explained to patients and carers to assist compliance. Ideally fats should be heart healthy (oils, margarines, seeds and nuts) but with the priority being to ensure an energy dense intake. Calories from butter, cream, full fat milk and cheese can be utilized. General suggestions for a Food First approach may include: Three small meals with snacks in-between every day Two courses for each of the three meals (see below for ideas) Add oil, butter, margarine, cream, cheese, dressings, sauces, sugar, honey and spreads to meals and snacks to boost energy intake Choose nourishing fluids such as milky drinks, soups or fruit juice instead of water or tea Make dessert a regular option rather than a treat Meal and snack suggestions Breakfast: Porridge made with milk plus added cream and sugar, followed by toast with liberal amounts of butter or margarine and spreads Scrambled eggs with added cheese and bacon followed by yoghurt and fruit Light meal Thick milk based soup with a protein (meat, egg, cheese or canned fish) and salad filled sandwich or cheese on toast Baked beans on toast with added grated cheese followed by dessert Main meal Meat, fish , chicken or eggs and include potato, rice or pasta, vegetables or salad with added butter/margarine and grated cheese, dressings, gravies or sauces If tolerated, use high fat cooking methods such as roasting or frying Dessert Custard, ice-cream, instant puddings, mousses or yoghurt with fruit and cream Milk puddings such as creamy rice, sago or baked custards Ready-made baked or sponge puddings with fruit plus cream or ice-cream Snacks Crackers and cheese, hummus, cottage cheese, cream cheese or dips Scones, pikelets, english muffins, crumpets or toast with liberal spreads Dried fruit and nuts (with a little chocolate if enjoyed) Protein filled sandwiches Sweet muffins, cakes and pastries Other beneficial products available in supermarkets include Complan, Vitaplan and Up & Go. These products are not nutritionally complete and should not be used as a sole source of nutrition. They can, however, be used as part of the Food First approach as the overall emphasis for these patients should be eating foods high in calories and protein. Read More