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blueball.gif (905 bytes)Spokane County

Assessing the Nutritional Health of Seniors 

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Data

| Data Gathering | |Data Analysis | | Results |

Data Gathering

The tool selected for this assessment was developed by the Nutrition Screening Initiative, an initiative of the American Dietetic Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the National Council on Aging. 

The questions are titled the Determine Your Nutritional Health Checklist. This screening tool is designed to be self-administered. It asks 11 questions about health status and behaviors that are related to nutritional risk. Seniors are categorized as being in good nutritional status, having moderate nutritional risk, or having high nutritional risk. The Senior Nutrition staff developed a scanable form with the Assessment Center at Spokane Regional Health District. The form is read and results are compiled using an existing computer program. 

The nutrition screen was administered to participants by Senior Nutrition staff, volunteers who delivered meals to homes, and nutrition student interns. Data were collected at congregate meal sites, a local senior wellness fair, and in homes of seniors who received home delivered meals. Those who administered the nutrition screening tool were trained in a standardized protocol by Senior Nutrition staff to assure uniformity of administration. Seniors who completed the form were assured that for purposes of community assessment, data would not be disclosed for any one individual, but would be reported as aggregate data. Seniors were guided through the process of using a scanable form. Concerns about the meaning of the screening questions were answered by those who were administering the screening tool. 

In addition to serving the needs for community nutrition assessment data for program planning, results of the Nutrition Screen were used to identify individual seniors who might benefit from nutrition intervention. Seniors were provided with referrals to address areas of concern. Physicians and Elderly Services were notified when appropriate, and some seniors were provided with a nutritional supplement. 

Data Analysis

The forms were scanned by the Spokane Regional Health District Assessment Center. After the data was scanned Senior Nutrition staff verified the data. Data gathered by students and volunteers were thoroughly reviewed and often the participant was called for clarification of responses. Results are presented by services received (i.e. congregate or home delivered meals), and in comparison with national data and data from seniors who are not meal program participants. 
  • Overall Nutritional Score Results for Spokane County and National Data 
  • Overall Nutritional Score Results for Participants, Non-participants, Homebound Participants, and Korean Elders 
  • Question by Question Results: National, Spokane, Congregate, and Home Delivered 
  • Question by Question Results: Participants, Non-participants, Homebound participants, and Korean Elders 
  • Morning Meals on Wheels Evaluation 

Results

Tables of results are provided by the following links:  Results demonstrate that the majority of participants in the congregate and home-delivered meals programs in the Spokane area had moderate to high nutritional risk. Ninety-nine percent of those receiving home delivered meals were found to be at high risk. Only 8% of seniors from the general public who completed the screen at a senior wellness fair were at high risk. 

The high level of nutritional risk for meal program participants strongly supports the need for the programs, and indicates that the programs are reaching those who can benefit most from senior nutrition programs. 

Spokane County Senior Nutrition Services has a strong health education component, but these data provide direction for health education planning. Most respondents indicated that they eat few fruits and vegetables. Seniors might be an especially important group to reach with a social marketing approach to the "Five a Day" message. Response to the item about dairy product intake indicates there might be a need for new and innovative programs to address bone health. The finding that many seniors in the county don't have enough money to buy food may indicate that enhanced food stamp outreach among seniors would be beneficial. 

The screening questionnaire has proven to be a valuable programmatic tool for Senior Nutrition Services. During the first 6 months of 1997, 630 referrals were made as a result of 495 nutrition screens. There were 20 seniors who had severe weight loss and appetite problems, and the program provided liquid meals for these individuals. The ongoing plan is to screen all current participants, and to complete screening on new participants when they first enter the program. 
 
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Last revised: 04/20/99
Comments: Donna Johnson (djohn@u.washington.edu)
 http://depts.washington.edu/~commnutr/cases/spokane/s-data.htm