Development and Inter-Rater Reliability of the Mealtime Scan for Long-Term Care.
Poor food intake is common in long-term care (LTC). The mealtime experience has been identified as influential, yet, research has been limited by lack of quality, standardized measures. The purpose of this study was to develop and test for inter-rater reliability the Mealtime Scan (MTS), an observational measure.



MTS was derived from the literature on ambiance, mealtime experience, social interactions at mealtimes, and social models of care. Three scales on person-centered care and physical and social environments are used to summarize key aspects observed with MTS. Two raters assessed MTS for reliability at 30 different meals conducted in 10 dining rooms, within three LTC residences. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess reliability.



MTS demonstrated good to excellent reliability on the three summative scales (physical ICC = 0.73, social ICC = 0.81, person-centered care ICC = 0.83) and other scalable items had good to excellent reliability (e.g., background noise ICC = 0.65, Mealtime Relational Care checklist: negative interactions ICC = 0.85).



MTS is reliable and face valid for assessing mealtime experience. Future work will explore construct validity of this measure. MTS can be used to support improving the mealtime experience for residents living in LTC.
Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging, University of Waterloo.
Heather H
HH
Keller
Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University.
Habib
H
Chaudhury
Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging, University of Waterloo.|Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo.
Kaylen J
KJ
Pfisterer
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta.
Susan E
SE
Slaughter
D000067289:Behavior Observation Techniques; D004435:Eating; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008134:Long-Term Care; D062407:Meals; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012931:Social Environment