Examining the effect of intervention to nutritional problems of the elderly living in an inner city area: a pilot project
Suda, Y.; Marske, C.E.; Flaherty, J.H.; Zdrodowski, K.; Morley, J.E.
Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging 5(2): 118-123
2001
ISSN/ISBN: 1279-7707 PMID: 11426293 Document Number: 533115
An intervention study was conducted to examine the effect of interventions provided to home delivered meal service recipients living in an inner city neighbourhood, in St. Louis City, Missouri, USA, for the purpose of improving their nutritional conditions. Both the Study Group (42 seniors) and the Control Group (39 seniors), all of whom are over 60 years old, received home delivered meal services. In addition, only the Study Group received the following services through the trained neighbourhood residents: health education, referrals to other community resources for unmet health needs, and follow-up services to assure that the health problems were addressed appropriately. The nutritional condition, depression and cognitive status of the Study Group were assessed by medical staff before and after the 6-month intervention. The same assessments were conducted to the Control Group with the same interval. Data was analysed using ANOVA (repeated). Mini-Nutritional Assessment, Geriatric Depression Scale, and Mini-Mental State Examination were measured. Compared to the Control Group, the nutritional condition (p=0.052) and depression (p=0.02) of the Study Group were improved, while no significant difference was observed in their cognitive status. A combination of interventions by medical professionals and by trained neighbourhood residents seem to be an effective strategy to approach nutritional problems of seniors living in inner city areas.