The Making the Most of Mealtimes (M3) Ontario stakeholder meeting was held at the Schlegel-University of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging on March 31, 2016. A diverse group of key stakeholders attended the event. They included representatives (e.g., nurses, residents) from the participating homes involved in M3 and other local homes; plus representatives from associations such as Dietitians of Canada, Ontario Society of Nutrition Management, Ontario Long Term Care Association, and Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes & Services for Seniors.
The purpose of this meeting was for Professor Heather Keller to share the preliminary results from the M3 Ontario data and highlight the key findings. Further, key stakeholders were invited to rank the top 10 determinants of food and fluid intake in long term care (LTC) created by the International Dining In Nursing homes Experts (I-DINE) and to brainstorm potential mealtime interventions.
The top three LTC priorities from the I-DINE priority ranking include: 1) Adequate time to eat and availability of staff to provide assistance; 2) Choice and variety in the dining experience; and 3) Sensory properties of food. The next steps are moving towards developing/piloting an intervention in LTC considering the results from the M3 study and the top three I-DINE priorities from stakeholders.