Are We Providing Appropriate Nutrition Care for Assisted Living Residents With Malnutrition or at Risk of Malnutrition?

Looking at the statistics of residents residing in assisted living (AL) communities, it is not difficult to recognize that some would benefit from expanded nutrition services provided by a registered dietitian (RD). Currently, there are over 800,000 residents in AL communities, and almost 50% are over 85 years of age. About 40% of these residents have a diagnosis of dementia, 30% have heart disease, 30% have depression, 15% have diabetes, approximately 50% have hypertension, and over 20% need help with feeding, all of whom may benefit from increased nutrition intervention and monitoring (D.