Functional Foods for Healthy Aging: A toolkit for registered dietitians

As the population ages, more and more focus has been made on nutritional management as a means for promoting healthy aging.  Functional foods are becoming increasingly popular, as they are foods that contain bioactives that provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition, and are designed to be consumed as part of a healthy diet.  Functional foods for healthy aging is a toolkit intended for registered dietitians to provide more information on functional foods, and their importance to older adults.

The toolkit includes:

• Background information about functional foods
• Background information about older adults and how functional foods would benefit their health
• Results from a University of Guelph research study designed to explore functional food consumption in a sample of older adults
• Educational resources to facilitate interaction with older adults about functional foods

To download the free toolkit, please visit http://bit.ly/1ueL7sV.

Safe Practices in Patient Care

Safe Practices in Patient Care is a serial publication dedicated to helping nurses caring for the critically and chronically ill to minimize medical errors by presenting clinically and evidenced-based safe practices. Safe Practices is also an accredited home-study program and is underwritten by an educational grant from Covidien Nursing Care. 

Past issues include:

Enteral Nutrition and Hydration in Long-term Care
by Peggi Guenter, PhD, RN, CNSN

Safe Practices in Long-term Wound Care
By Catherine T. Milne, APRN, MSN, BC, CWOCN

Aspiration Pneumonia due to Enteral Tube Feeding.
by Carol McGinnis RN, MS, CNSN

Early Enteral Nutrition Following Cardiovascular Surgery.

New: Overcoming Challeges to CAUTI Prevention Online Program.

The Effectiveness, Prescription and Administration of Oral Liquid Supplements to People with Dementia in Residential Aged Facilities

A May, 2008 publication by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centres at Queensland University in Australia. This report explores oral liquid nutritional supplements (OLNS), which are often prescribed and administered as a nutritional maintenance strategy for people with dementia living in residential aged care facilities (RACFs).

Adequate nutrition for people with dementia is influenced by a variety of factors related to intake refusal, behavioural aspects of dementia, most notably wandering and pacing, and disease progression, with resultant weight loss issues and nutrition-related morbidity. These issues represent a challenging aspect of health service delivery for nursing, medical and allied health staff working with people with dementia.

The aim of this research was to investigate and describe the prescription and administration of OLNS for people with dementia living in RACFs over a three month period in 2007.

http://www.dementia.unsw.edu.au/DCRCweb.nsf/resources/DCRC3+Products+3/$file/OLNS+Report_FINAL_31_3_09.pdf

Thickened Fluids for People with Dementia in Residential Care Facilities

Published in June, 2008 by the Dementia Collaborative Research Centres at Queensland University in Australia, this document reports on a study to identify factors relating to the prescription and administration of thickened fluids (TFs) for people with dementia living in residential aged care facilities.

http://www.dementia.unsw.edu.au/DCRCweb.nsf/resources/DCRC3+Products+3/$file/Thickened+Fluids++Report+FINAL+30_3_09.pdf

Catering for Older Vegetarians and Vegans

This guide provides information and advice for those providing meals for older people who are vegetarians and vegans. It is particularly aimed at care homes, retirement villages and similar schemes with on-site catering, supported accommodation, such as very sheltered housing for frail older people, older vegetarians and their relatives and friendsThe guide is produced by a new British charity, Vegetarian for Life Limited, launched in May 2008 which has the vision to improve standards of catering for older vegetarians and vegans throughout the UK. To achieve this Vision, VfL aims to:
· raise the standards of catering for older vegetarians and vegans in care homes, retirement schemes, hospitals and other services catering for older people
· foster understanding of the dietary needs of older vegetarians and vegan
· try to ensure ethically acceptable and nutritionally balanced meals are available for all older vegetarians and vegans

http://www.vegetarianforlife.org.uk/vfl_downloads/cateringguide.pdf

Clinical Vignette: Geriatric Syndromes- Falls and Nutrition/Fluids

New at John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing web site: an online tutorial on falls and nutrition/fluids.

http://staging.jasperdesign.com/nca/build_111306_1430/www/main_frontend/tutorial_7_07/tutorial.html