NURS 3020 Week 4 Discussion – Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults

NURS 3020 Week 4 Discussion – Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults

For this discussion, I chose to focus on elderly diabetic patients. This group of patients has difficulties when it comes to nutritional status and overall health. The elderly population already are at a disadvantage because their bodies are starting to lose lean muscle mass and instead start accumulating fat. In geriatric patients, there is also a higher risk of malnutrition, which can cause severe complications for diabetic patients. When patients are malnourished, it leads to a higher risk of infections, delayed wound healing, and longer hospital stays (Saintrain et al., 2019).

Malnutrition in the elderly diabetic population proposes a challenge when it comes to proper treatment. On the one hand, patients that are malnourished are encouraged to liberalize their diets to help maintain proper and adequate nutrition to help prevent complications. On the other hand, these patients also need to monitor their glucose levels and treat them accordingly. If the patients are unable to properly manage their diabetes, then that can lead to complications as well (Saintrain et al., 2019).

NURS 3020 Week 4 Discussion – Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults

Saintrain et al. (2019) used the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) tool to assess elderly diabetics’ overall nutritional status. The MNA is a quick assessment tool that uses measurements such as height and weight, BMI, and weight loss. The MNA also includes questions related to mobility, the patient’s lifestyle, medications, diet, meals, fluid, and food intake, and assesses the patient’s self-perception of overall nutrition and health. They found that patients older than 80 years were 4.3 times more likely to be malnourished than those aged less than 80. They also found that uneducated patients were 5.8 times more likely to be malnourished than those with higher education.

Another study by Farrer, Yaxley, Walton, & Miller (2019) examined multiple nutritional guidelines for older adult diabetics from various countries all over the world. They were able to find similarities within these guidelines to then come up with a consensus of recommendations for this specific population of patients. Their results showed that most of the guidelines recommend a diet with low fat, low added sugar, low salt, and high fibre foods. However, there were several guidelines that did not use restriction of fat due to the nature of these patients often being malnourished. Many guidelines did agree on limiting added sugar. They suggest limiting soft drinks, sugary drinks, and even fruit juices. They recommend not eliminating desserts and snacks but instead smaller half-sized portions. By reducing portions, patients can still enjoy eating sweets, just in moderation.

NURS 3020 Week 4 Discussion – Promoting Nutrition in Older Adults

In conclusion, the nutritional status of elderly patients with diabetes is very important but also very challenging. I do think that using the Mini Nutritional Assessment tool would be a great place to start to get an overall picture of the patient’s health and nutritional status. However, I think that once that information is obtained, then it should be individualized for that specific patient. Patients that are overweight, obese, and do not have good control of their diabetes need to follow stricter dietary guideline that limits sugar and carbohydrates. However, the frail, malnourished patient may benefit from a more liberalized diet that does allow carbohydrates and sugar. Sometimes these patients barely eat anything at all, and we should not be limiting what they eat by putting them on a restricted diet. However, these patients would need to be monitoring their blood sugar levels and treating them accordingly to avoid complications.

References:

Farrer, O., Yaxley, A., Walton, K., & Miller, M. (2019). A scoping review of best practice guidelines for the dietary management of diabetes in older adults in residential aged care. Primary Care Diabetes, 13(4), 293–300. https://doi- org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.pcd.2019.02.005

Saintrain, M. V. de L., Sandrin, R. L. e S. P., Bezerra, C. B., Lima, A. O. P., Nobre, M. A., & Braga, D. R. A. (2019). Nutritional assessment of older adults with diabetes mellitus. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 155. https://doi- org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2019.107819

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As older adults live longer, they may have more than one chronic disease. Or, they may have a health problem that can lead to another condition or injury if not properly managed. The older adult requires careful nutritional management to ensure proper care and improve or maintain quality of life. From the professional article you selected, describe the unique nutritional needs of this population.