Mealtime Assistance by Family and Professional Caregivers: An Observational Study of Cognitively Impaired Older Adults in Hospitals and Nursing Homes.
Background: Malnutrition is common among older adults with cognitive impairment and contributes to frailty and poorer health outcomes. Many individuals with dementia require mealtime assistance, yet differences in caregiving practices across hospital and nursing home settings remain underexplored. A...
| Published in: | Nursing Reports Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 6 - 22 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
MDPI
Jan2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=191217470&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 191217470 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 2039439X EGNT jtl: Nursing Reports issn: 2039439X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jan2026 vid: 16 iid: 1 pid: 97109 pub: MDPI artinfo: ui: 191217470 191217470 191217470 10.3390/nursrep16010006 191217470 ppf: 6 ppct: 16 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Mealtime Assistance by Family and Professional Caregivers: An Observational Study of Cognitively Impaired Older Adults in Hospitals and Nursing Homes. aug: au: Chang, Hui-Chen Koo, FungKuen Hui, Juyang Tang, Hansen You, Wenpeng affil: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney University, Parramatta, NSW 2151, Australia sug: subj: Cognition Disorders Psychosocial Factors Meals Eating Behavior In Old Age Feeding Methods In Old Age Family Caregivers Hospitals Nursing Home Personnel Nursing Homes Interpersonal Relations Nutritional Status Motivation Human Male Female Cross Sectional Studies Nonexperimental Studies Descriptive Statistics Inpatients Data Analysis Software kappa Statistic Comparative Studies Unpaired T-Tests Chi Square Test Bivariate Statistics Motor Skills Disorders Distraction Aged Funding Source Questionnaires Scales Malnutrition Prevention and Control Dementia Aged: 65+ years Male Female ab: Background: Malnutrition is common among older adults with cognitive impairment and contributes to frailty and poorer health outcomes. Many individuals with dementia require mealtime assistance, yet differences in caregiving practices across hospital and nursing home settings remain underexplored. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare eating encouragement practices, feeding skills, feeding difficulties, and nutritional status between family caregivers in hospitals and professional caregivers in nursing homes. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted between June 2020 and December 2023 in New South Wales, Australia. The study included 82 older adults (≥65 years) with cognitive impairment: 31 hospital patients supported by family caregivers and 51 nursing home residents supported by assistant nurses. Eating encouragement, feeding skills, and feeding difficulties were assessed using structured observation tools, and nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment–Short Form (MNA-SF). Group differences were analysed using chi-square tests and independent t-tests (p < 0.05). Results: Family caregivers in hospitals demonstrated stronger relational and engagement-based practices, including consistent handwashing (χ2 = 31.945, p < 0.001), encouraging self-feeding (χ2 = 21.678, p < 0.001), verbal cueing (χ2 = 12.083, p = 0.002), touch prompting (χ2 = 51.817, p < 0.001), and sitting face to face (χ2 = 38.697, p < 0.001). Nursing home caregivers showed more advanced technical skills, such as task simplification (χ2 = 54.135, p < 0.001), mirroring (χ2 = 78.456, p < 0.001), hand-over-hand guidance (χ2 = 73.076, p < 0.001), mouth- and lip-opening techniques (both χ2 = 81.000, p < 0.001), and stronger choking management (p < 0.001). Feeding difficulties also differed: refusal behaviours were more common in nursing homes, while distraction and oral–motor issues were more frequent in hospitals. Overall, nursing home residents had significantly poorer nutritional status (t = −12.592, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Family caregivers provide stronger relational support, whereas professional caregivers demonstrate superior technical competence. Integrating these complementary strengths may enhance mealtime care and reduce malnutrition among cognitively impaired older adults. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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