Some Canadians living in long-term care homes are poorly nourished, and Professor Heather Keller is out to understand why.
With more than $600,000 in research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Keller is leading a first-of-its-kind study into factors impacting food intake in long-term care settings.
“We know that food intake in long-term care tends to be poor, and that residents have poor nutrition as a result,” said Keller, a Schlegel Research Chair in nutrition and aging. “Is the food unappealing? Is the setting institutional? Are residents having physical trouble eating?”
To conduct the complex study, teams of researchers will monitor the food intake patterns of 800 randomly selected residents in 32 long-term care homes located in four different provinces. The pioneering project will evaluate how factors like meal quality, food access and mealtime experience impact food consumption.
“It’s not just one thing impacting food intake. If we can understand broadly what is happening, what are the big deterrents to food intake, we can successfully intervene on a large scale,” she said."
“Poor food intake is both preventable and treatable.”
The study’s findings are expected to help optimize health-care practices and enhance the quality of life of Canada’s aging population.
