Empowerment & reminiscence: possible tools in dietary health promotion in the elderly

The COMA report "The Nutrition of Elderly People" recommended that elderly people should be targeted for health education programmes in order to maintain nutritional status in this group. Recent research indicates that interventions which aim to influence nutritional behaviour are more likely to succeed if they involve target populations at all stages of the process. This paper outlines a preliminary action research project which attempted to identify some key issues influencing eating behaviour in a group of elderly people based in the Halewood area of Knowsley, Merseyside. An innovative methodology, combining empowerment and reminiscence, was used to produce a nutritional advice leaflet which will be used as a resource within the local community.