FRIEND Design and Implementation: Nutrition Modules and Eating Environment Modification for Frailty in Aged Care
Tracks
Ballroom 2
Best practice
Diet / Nutrition
Exercise
Implementation
Medications
| Wednesday, November 13, 2024 |
| 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM |
Speaker
Mrs Carolina Almendrales Rangel
Trial Coordinator
The University Of Sydney
FRIEND Design and Implementation: Nutrition Modules and Eating Environment Modification for Frailty in Aged Care
Abstract
Introduction: Virtually all older adults living within aged care are living with some degree of frailty. Improving the eating environment and dietary intake is recommended along with medication optimisation and robust exercise as best-practice frailty management. However, Royal commission findings indicate approximately two-thirds of aged care residents are at-risk of becoming, or currently malnourished. We report the preliminary feasibility of comprehensive nutrition education and investigator-supported dietary and food environment modification as part of a holistic, frailty intervention.
Methods: The Frailty Reduction via Implementation of Robust Exercise, Nutrition, and Deprescribing (FRIEND) trial (ANZCTR No.ACTRN12622000926730p) is a hybrid implementation-effectiveness translational trial evaluating the implementation of best-practice frailty intervention in a residential aged care facility (Townsville, Australia). The nutrition component involves two educational modules (~2 hours total) and an investigator-supported, review of diet and the eating environment over a six-month period. Preliminary uptake of the education modules and dietary environment modifications were evaluated using institutional participation metrics throughout the intervention.
Results: 27 residents completed in-person frailty education. 30 caregivers and 21 staff were offered the nutrition modules. The facility implemented several investigator recommendations including establishing a nostalgic café close to the gym, new dietary management software, inclusion of nutrient-dense food, and improving food presentation and socialisation by dedicating kitchen staff to serving and freeing up carers to engage with residents, respectively.
Conclusions: The FRIEND nutrition component was delivered to key stakeholders and institutional changes were made to facilitate long-term translation. Final trial results and wider dissemination of education modules are expected late-2024.
Methods: The Frailty Reduction via Implementation of Robust Exercise, Nutrition, and Deprescribing (FRIEND) trial (ANZCTR No.ACTRN12622000926730p) is a hybrid implementation-effectiveness translational trial evaluating the implementation of best-practice frailty intervention in a residential aged care facility (Townsville, Australia). The nutrition component involves two educational modules (~2 hours total) and an investigator-supported, review of diet and the eating environment over a six-month period. Preliminary uptake of the education modules and dietary environment modifications were evaluated using institutional participation metrics throughout the intervention.
Results: 27 residents completed in-person frailty education. 30 caregivers and 21 staff were offered the nutrition modules. The facility implemented several investigator recommendations including establishing a nostalgic café close to the gym, new dietary management software, inclusion of nutrient-dense food, and improving food presentation and socialisation by dedicating kitchen staff to serving and freeing up carers to engage with residents, respectively.
Conclusions: The FRIEND nutrition component was delivered to key stakeholders and institutional changes were made to facilitate long-term translation. Final trial results and wider dissemination of education modules are expected late-2024.
Biography
Mrs Carolina Almendrales Rangel has a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from the National University of Colombia, a diploma in project management from the National Institute of Education and Technology in Hobart, Australia, and a master’s degree in health services management and planning from the University of Technology Sydney. She has over 20 years of experience in the clinical sector as a dietitian in a hospital renal unit and private practice, in the public health sector, where she coordinated, developed, and implemented food security programs for populations at socio-economic disadvantage, in education and research. She has worked with government and non-government organizations in Colombia promoting healthy lifestyles throughout the lifespan in rural and urban communities.
Since 2018, She has been working on research to prevent dementia and improve cognitive function at the University of Sydney in the Sydney School of Health Sciences. Her research includes the Maintain Your Brain Randomised Control trial, one of the largest internet-delivered multidomain interventions designed to target modifiable risk factors for Alzheimer's disease and dementia such as physical inactivity, cognitive inactivity, depression/anxiety, overweight and obesity, and poor dietary habits. Her more recent research is the Frailty Reduction via Implementation of Robust Exercise, Nutrition and Deprescribing (FRIEND) trial where she is working as the study coordinator and the study nutritionist.
Session Chair
Raphaelle Guerbaai
Postdoctoral Fellow
Rehabilitation, Ageing and Independent Living (RAIL) Research Centre
