Optimizing the social and physical ambiance during mealtimes in Dutch nursing homes: implementation and evaluation of the effect with respect to quality of life, nutritional status and physical performance.

Condition	Intervention	Phase
Malnutrition	Procedure: family style dinner	Phase II

Further Study Details: 

Primary Outcomes: Nutritional status; Quality of life; Physical performance
Expected Total Enrollment:  120

Study design: During six months the intervention group had their meals in family style, and the control group received the usual tray services.

Hypothesis: We hypothesized that the intervention program had a positive effect on quality of life, food intake, body weight, physical performance, and biochemical data (hematocrit, hemoglobin, leucocytes, ferretin, albumin, homocysteine and folate) among the residents in the intervention group, while these outcome measures would regularly decline among the residents in the control group.

Site and participants: Nursing homes volunteered to participate in the study. In each nursing home there was a control and intervention ward. Only residents with a chronic somatic disorder were included. Residents were excluded when they were in a terminal phase of a disease, had total parenteral feeding or were not able to give informed consent due to their physical or mental condition. The ethical committee and the client board of the nursing homes and the medical ethical committee of Wageningen University approved the study protocol.

Intervention: The intervention program lasted for six months and was based on an inventory research of mealtime ambiance models in the Netherlands. The program consisted of five aspects: table dressing, food services, staff protocol, residents’ protocol, and mealtime protocol. Before the start of the meal, tables were set with tablecloths, full cutlery and plates. The cooked meal was served in dishes and residents had the opportunity to choose between two kinds of vegetables, two kinds of meat and potatoes.

Ages Eligible for Study:  40 Years and above,  Genders Eligible for Study:  Both

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Nursing home residents with a chronic somatic disease and long term care

Exclusion Criteria:

• Residents were excluded when they were in a terminal phase of a disease, had total parenteral feeding or were not able to give informed consent due to their physical or mental condition.

Netherlands, Gelderland
      Wageningen University, Wageningen,  Gelderland,  6700 EV,  Netherlands

Study ID Numbers:  2420.0021
Record last reviewed:  June 2005
Last Updated:  June 30, 2005
Record first received:  June 15, 2005
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:  NCT00114582
Health Authority: Netherlands: The Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (CCMO)
ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on 2005-07-05