title: Training food service supervisors using hand-held computers to conduct nutritional screening of institutionalized elderly patients.
abstract: Six food service supervisors (FSSs) working in skilled nursing facilities were trained to use a hand-held computer, COMPU-CAL/PRO 5.1, to screen institutionalized elderly patients for selected nutritional variables and to record results in the medical record. The study demonstrates that hand-held computer-assisted nutritional screenings: (1) are readily adaptable to on-going efforts, (2) are useful in identifying potential indicators of poor nutritional status in institutionalized elderly patients, (3) can be taught to FSS in a relatively short time, (4) increase nutritionally relevant variables that can be assessed, and (5) improve the quality of documentation in the medical record.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Orta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005522:Food Services; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods*; D008838:Microcomputers; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D012866:Skilled Nursing Facilities