West Health, a member of the Defeat Malnutrition Today Coalition, is using this year's Malnutrition Awareness Week, running from 24 through 28 September, to highlight what has been described as a "crisis" of senior malnutrition in the US. Figures revealed up to half the nation's elderly population are at risk from malnutrition, while disease-related malnutrition costs an estimated $51.3 billion annually. As part of its aim to ensure seniors are able to remain in their own homes and communities, West Health has partnered with innovators in the fields of aging, senior nutrition and health care to offer comprehensive malnutrition care. In February, West Health hosted a Senior Malnutrition Visioning Session in Washington D.C., attended by national leaders in health care, aging, senior nutrition, policy and research, resulting in the creation of the Comprehensive Senior Malnutrition Care roadmap. The goal of the roadmap is for all Americans over age 65 to have access to nutritionally adequate food that supports healthy aging and prevents chronic disease. The roadmap also calls on those working with or interacting with seniors to learn more about the underlying causes of malnutrition, both medical and social, and calls for the promotion of best practices which advance comprehensive senior malnutrition care, based on research and measured outcomes. Finally, the roadmap urges legislative and regulatory changes that will incentivize the reimbursement of malnutrition-related activities. West Health said action must be taken to prevent an even greater impact on US seniors and urged community-based organizations to examine senior patients for malnutrition and tackle the social issues contributing to its spread.
West Health, a member of the Defeat Malnutrition Today Coalition, is using this year's Malnutrition Awareness Week, running from 24 through 28 September, to highlight what has been described as a "crisis" of senior malnutrition in the US. Figures revealed up to half the nation's elderly population are at risk from malnutrition, while disease-related malnutrition costs an estimated $51.3 billion annually. As part of its aim to ensure seniors are able to remain in their own homes and communities, West Health has partnered with innovators in the fields of aging, senior nutrition and health care to offer comprehensive malnutrition care. In February, West Health hosted a Senior Malnutrition Visioning Session in Washington D.C., attended by national leaders in health care, aging, senior nutrition, policy and research, resulting in the creation of the Comprehensive Senior Malnutrition Care roadmap. It set up four areas where action could be taken, beginning with identifying those seniors at risk of, or who are already malnourished, and raising awareness of the problem at a national level. The roadmap also calls on those working with or interacting with seniors to learn more about the underlying causes of malnutrition, both medical and social, and calls for the promotion of best practices which advance comprehensive senior malnutrition care, based on research and measured outcomes. Finally, the roadmap urges legislative and regulatory changes that will incentivize the reimbursement of malnutrition-related activities. West Health said action must be taken to prevent an even greater impact on US seniors and urged community-based organizations to examine senior patients for malnutrition and tackle the social issues contributing to its spread.