The Memorial Meal Mates: a program to improve nutrition in hospitalized older adults.
A common problem among older hospitalized patients is inadequate nutritional intake. The Memorial Meal Mates project was developed to address this problem. College-aged volunteers were provided a 3-hour in-service taught by an interdisciplinary team. During a 2-month period, the Memorial Meal Mates fed 34 patients, who were compared with 34 other patients fed by nursing staff. The mean intake of the Meal Mates group was 58.88%, compared with the mean intake of the control group of 32.45%. Patients fed by the volunteers nearly doubled their intake over those fed by nursing staff.
Robinson
Sherry
S
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, USA.
Clump
Dee
D
Weitzel
Tina
T
Henderson
Lisa
L
Lee
Kathy
K
Schwartz
Cathy
C
Egizii
Peggy
P
Metz
Lynne
L
D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D002149:Energy Intake; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D014838:Volunteers / Q000193:education