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Commentary on: Edwards D, Carrier J, Hopkinson J. Assistance at mealtimes in hospital settings and rehabilitation units for patients (65 years) from the perspectives of patients, families and healthcare professionals: A mixed methods systematic review. Int J Nurs Stud 2017; 69:100–118.
Implications for practice and research
Where practice aims to increase nutritional intake of hospitalised older patients, evidence exists to support implementation of some interventions included in this review (eg, mealtime assistance programmes), but not all (eg, Protected Mealtimes).
The perspective of the patient and their family has been underutilised in mealtime assistance research. Future studies investigating mealtime interventions should consider the inclusion of the patients’ voice through qualitative approaches and/or quality of life measures.
Context
Malnutrition in healthcare settings is a complex and multifactorial problem arising from multiple causes including poor appetite, inadequate nutritional intake and the primary diagnosis itself. Identification of patients at risk of malnutrition through nutritional screening …
Footnotes
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.