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Abstract: The opinions of both national aging and health experts and practicing registered dietitians (RDs) were surveyed on which key quality indicators from the Food And Nutrition Care Indicators checklist should be regulated in assisted-living facilities (ALFs) for older adults. The extent to which the practices on which the indicators were based should be regulated, and which were in fact included in the current regulations of the 50 states was also studied. One hundred fifty-three national aging and health experts were surveyed in 2005 and 882 practicing RDs who were members of two American Dietetic Association dietetic practice groups employed in ALFs were surveyed in 2006. Both the experts and the RDs believed that the need for regulations in ALF food and nutrition services was vital for about a third of the indicators, (eg, 18 items on the 57 item checklist), particularly those involving facilities and staffing. For seven out of the 18 indicators, there was substantial consensus between experts and RDs. Only three of the seven indicators were addressed by regulations in more than half of the states. Consensus exists among experts and RDs that a small but significant number of food and nutrition service indicators need to be regulated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study assessed the views of 153 national experts in nutrition, health, and aging services in assisted-living facilities; including gerontological nutrition (39%), foodservice (14%), aging and disability (22%), geriatric medicine (9%), and assisted living (16%); on the practices that serve as indicators of the quality of food and nutrition services provided in assisted-living facilities and ascertained the most favored style of service delivery: health, amenities, or both. An 88-item Food and Nutrition Care Indicators survey was developed from assisted-living facility regulations in 50 states and other quality indicators of nutrition services. Respondents rated each item on a scale from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important). Results show that at least 80% of experts rated the majority of indicators in each domain as highly important (57% of dining room, 67% of foodservice indicators, 65% of general nutrition, and 70% of therapeutic nutrition indicators). Most experts (89%) rated a combination of indicators that included both health (general and therapeutic) and amenities service styles as being highly important. The 57 items rated most important were consolidated into a checklist. A service model that incorporates all of these elements appears to be most appropriate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]