Fourth from left: Prof Yap with participants
The Centre for Research on Non-Communicable Diseases (CRNCD) organised a workshop titled, “Nutrition Status of Institutionalised elderly and nutrition for healthy ageing” at Sungai Long Campus on 3 October 2018. About 50 participants turned up at the workshop.
The workshop aimed to provide the overview results of the UTAR Strategic Research Funding Scheme’s (UTARSRF) study on the nutritional status among institutionalised elderly from “old folks’ homes” within the Klang Valley area as well as to raise the awareness of the importance of adequate and balanced nutrition for healthy ageing. Apart from that, the workshop introduced the components of a healthy diet and an instrument to evaluate the nutritional status among the participants.
Present at the workshop were Faculty of Medicine and Health Science (FMHS) Deputy Dean for R&D and Postgraduate Programmes Prof Dr Yap Sook Fan, University Malaya Medical Centre Clinical Dietician Tah Pei Chien, FMHS Head of Department of Pre-clinical Sciences Dr Leong Pooi Pooi, FMHS Head of Department of Nursing Liew Siew Fun, FMHS lecturers, public and students.
“The workshop will showcase some results to educate people about health ageing issue, the problems encountered when one gets old, and what we can do to at least maintain or improve our health as we grow older,” said Prof Yap as he welcomed the participants.
Prof Yap delivering her talk
Prof Yap presented a talk on “Malnutrition in institutionalised elderly individuals”. She spoke about the changes with ageing that affect the nutritional status, including physiological changes, lifestyle changes, pathological changes and psychosocial factors. Prof Yap also mentioned that the synergy between diet and exercise in healthy ageing can improve bone health, reduce the risk of stroke and decrease the risk of colon cancer.
“It is a fact that we are all living longer as human lifespan has increased according to research. Unfortunately, our life quality has not increased accordingly and our focus is to live a good quality life. Therefore, I will emphasise on how we should maintain our physical health by keeping our body’s ability to function accordingly as well as to be mentally fit,” said Prof Yap
Tah presenting her ideas to the participants
The second talk, presented by Tah, was titled “Nutritional needs of the elderly and impact of malnutrition”. In her talk, she spoke about the risk factors associated with poor nutritional status, the importance of good nutrition for elderly, impact of malnutrition, nutrition screening and assessment, nutrition requirement and practical tips in dietary management for elderly.
Tah said, “Some of the risk factors associated with poor nutritional status are the loss of sensory in taste and smell, oral health status, gastrointestinal function and poverty. Good nutrition helps to improve health outcomes, prevent the onset of disability, improve life quality and save healthcare costs. Thus, it is important for us to practice healthy meal plates which include all the food groups throughout the day.” She added, “Modified texture of food plays an important role to ensure good nutrition among the elderly. Good nutritional support is important for improving the quality of life. Thus, everyone should play an important role to change the nutrition status of our golden age citizen.”
The talk was followed by roundtable activities where participants were introduced to the examples of healthy meal plate and taught to assess nutritional status with the use of Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) tool which allows participants to check their Body Mass Index (BMI). During the group activity, participants were separated into groups to evaluate the MNA of selected participants before presenting the results to the audience to gain feedback.
Participants evaluating the nutritional status of the selected group member
Participants were introduced to the components of a healthy diet
Liew presenting a token of appreciation to Tah (left)
Participant presenting the results of MNA assessment
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