Nutrition Care of the Older Adult

Level 2 & 3 CPE

Suggested Performance Indicators: 1.3.9, 1.4.1, 1.5.1, 1.6.1, 2.2.1, 2.3.1, 4.1.2, 4.2.2, 5.1.1, 5.3.1, 6.1.2, 7.1.1, 7.3.1, 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.5, 8.4.5, 10.2.4

CPE Type: 720 for Printed/Paper Tests, 740 for Web-based/Online Tests

Upon completion of this course, the user will be able to:

1. Identify two nutrients that are not absorbed well in the aging gut and a solution for each to avoid deficiencies.

2. Explain three reasons a person’s appetite may suffer as they grow older.

3. Critically assess an older patient’s nutritional status and how aging has compromised their health.

4. Identify four diseases commonly seen in the elderly that interfere with maintaining good nutrition.

5. Discuss three feeding issues commonly seen in residential or nursing home settings and identify a solution for each.

6. Assess a dialysis patient’s fluid needs when urine output is great reduced.

7. Explain three interventions for an elderly person who is losing weight and becoming malnourished.

8. Calculate an older person’s ideal body weight and determine their protein and calorie needs to maintain, lose, or gain weight.

9. Calculate the fluid needs of an older person in three settings: free living, bedridden, and with renal problems.

10. Discuss how a deficiency of each of the following nutrients interferes with an older person’s enjoyment of food or quality of life: vitamin B12, zinc, copper, and sodium.

11. Document and plan care for individuals based upon the Nutrition Care Plan and federal and local regulations.

12. Define and discuss dysphagia and give three strategies to reduce the its incidence.

13. Calculate the protein and calorie needs of an older person with cancer cachexia.

14. Identify the treatment goals for an older adult with diabetes for the following: blood pressure range, fasting glucose, and A1c.

15. Discuss three drugs commonly given to older adults that may cause adverse effects.

16. Identify the oral intervention that has been shown to reduce hospital readmissions by over 40 percent.