Concerned family members and aging individuals make decisions about nursing home care for safety and health reasons. When older adults struggle to meet their own needs or family members can’t provide them with regular support, a nursing home could be the safest location for a vulnerable older individual.
In theory, they have people to oversee their basic medical needs, including nutrition. The nursing home could provide them with three well-balanced meals and all other daily forms of support that they require. Unfortunately, some research indicates that a significant percentage of those living in nursing homes are subject to malnutrition at any given time. Anywhere from one in five to two-thirds of residents may experience malnutrition in nursing home facilities.
Why is malnutrition an issue at some nursing homes?
Understaffing and negligence
Sometimes, the employees at a nursing home are spread too thin. The company does not keep enough workers on hand to check in with every resident as regularly as they need to. The fact that certain individuals have failed to eat appropriately could go unnoticed for days or even weeks.
In some cases, workers might even notice alarming trends regarding individuals refusing food but may fail to document it or take action to correct the issue. Residents with dietary restrictions and those with memory issues may be among those more likely to suffer from malnutrition because they forget to eat or cannot access foods that align with their dietary requirements.
Cost-cutting measures
Many nursing homes are run as for-profit institutions. That means that the organization may look for every opportunity to reduce costs as a means of improving profits. Cost-saving measures can trickle down to affect the quality and quantity of food provided for residents.
In some cases, the facility might fail to provide people with fresh fruit and vegetables, leaving them susceptible to nutritional deficiencies. Other times, a lack of adequate protein or an inappropriate reliance on processed foods could compromise the quality of the meals served to nursing home residents.
As they may not have the ability to shop or prepare meals on their own behalf, they are completely reliant on the food provided by the facility. They may develop malnutrition due to a lack of protein or other important macronutrients or micronutrients.
Family members who discover that a loved one has lost weight and muscle tone due to a lack of protein or developed illnesses due to iodine or vitamin C deficiency may have grounds to take legal action against a facility. Pursuing a successful negligence claim in response to a nursing home resident’s malnutrition can help cover the costs of helping them regain their health or even moving them to a better facility.