Effect of communal dining and dining room enhancement interventions on nutritional, clinical and functional outcomes of patients in acute and sub-acute hospital, rehabilitation and aged-care settings: A systematic review.

Aims: This review aimed to synthesise evidence on the impact of communal dining and/or dining room enhancement interventions on nutritional, clinical and functional outcomes of patients in hospital (acute or subacute), rehabilitation and residential aged-care facility settings.
Methods: Five electronic databases were searched in March 2020. Included studies considered the impact of communal dining and/or dining room enhancements on outcomes related to malnutrition in hospital (acute or subacute), rehabilitation and residential aged care facility settings. Risk of bias was assessed using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics quality checklist. Overall quality was assessed using GRADEpro software. Outcome data were combined narratively for communal dining and dining room enhancements respectively.
Results: Eighteen articles from 17 unique studies were identified. Of these studies, one was a randomised control trial (moderate quality) and 16 were observational studies (all low quality). Communal dining interventions (four studies, n = 490) were associated with greater energy and protein intake and higher measures of quality of life than non-communal mealtime settings. Dining room enhancement interventions (14 studies, n = 912), overall, contributed to increased intake of food, energy, protein and fluid.
Conclusions: Results indicate that communal dining and/or dining room enhancement has a positive impact on several outcomes of interest, however, most available evidence is of low quality. Therefore, there is a need for further large-scale, well-designed experimental studies to assess the potential impacts of these interventions.
(© 2021 Dietitians Australia.)