Nursing homes allow elderly to go more than eleven hours without food

Silhouette of a Senior Woman in a Nursery Home.Photo: Frank May / NTB scanpix

Half of the country’s nursing home allows patients to go more than eleven hours without food, according to a survey by the Consumer Council.

 

– This is very serious. It’s particularly scary when we know what it means for health and how it effects a person,” says Senior Vice President, Consumer Policy, Anne Kristin Vie, in a press release.

According to the Directorate of Health’s guidelines, it should be no more than eleven hours from today’s last meal to the next mornings first meal at a nursing home.

The Consumer Council has interviewed managers for 531 nursing homes in Norway, and the answers show that 49 percent of all nurses violate these guidelines.

Vie says that as many as 60 percent of the elderly can be malnourished.

“If you do not eat properly, you become sick more often, you become disoriented, and may fall and hurt yourself more easily. In addition, a good and inviting meal can bring joy and overall good feelings. It’s also very important, she says.

Vie expects major improvements by the next time the Consumer Council does the same test.

“Half of the elderly homes follow it, and I’m confident that the rest will come after,” concludes the professor.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today