Resumo

FERREIRA, Liliana et al. A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON “PROPOSTA DE FERRAMENTA DE AVALIAÇÃO QUALITATIVA DE EMENTAS DESTINADAS A IDOSOS” - WHAT ARE THE PERCEPTIONS AND INPUTS OF NUTRITIONISTS FOR AN UPDATE PROPOSAL?. Acta Port Nutr [online]. 2022, n.30, pp.6-13.  Epub 25-Fev-2023. ISSN 2183-5985.  https://doi.org/10.21011/apn.2022.3002.

Continuous demographic changes confront us with an increasingly elderly population with growing needs for nutritional care, both from a health care perspective and from meals’ provision, which is often supplied by food services. The nutritional and food quality is a major determinant of the seniors’ health and satisfaction, and the menu is one of the most important management tools. To promote an adequate food offer, it is essential to have guidelines, that must be updated and continuously improved. The involvement of nutritionists in this process enables peer review and greater adaptation to reality, allowing to obtain tools that help in the decision-making process and sustain the developed work. This work aims to explore the perceptions and contributions of nutritionists on the document “Proposta de Ferramenta de Avaliação Qualitativa de Ementas destinadas a Idosos”, with a view to an update proposal. A qualitative methodology was adopted by conducting focus groups with a convenience sample of 38 nutritionists. Results suggest that, although the tool is considered useful, it needs to be updated to better adapt to the targeted age group and to the practical context. From the analysis of specific criteria, participants identify difficulties to comply with some of them (e.g. equitable offering of cooking methods, non-repetition of fruit, offering of oilseeds, egg based meals and whole wheat pasta or wholegrain rice), sharing the reasons why. They also suggest the need to include criteria for texture modified foods and they reflect on possible improvements in the tool application. In conclusion, the discussion promoted breeds important contributions for a possible update of the tool, in a perspective of greater adjustment to the age group it is destined to and inclusion of criteria on emerging topics.

Palavras-chave : Assessment Tool; Seniors; Nutritionists; Menu Planning.

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