Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 25, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Service Awareness Among Older Adults Experiencing Barriers to Food and Eating
Anna Vaudin1, Wesley Dean2, Jie Chen3
1Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD.
Objective:
To explore (1) the services older adults use to address the barriers to food access they face and (2) how they found out about these services.
Design:
Semistructured, basic descriptive qualitative in-person interviews.
Setting:
Senior center and participants' homes.
Participants:
A convenience sample of 24 older adults recruited from suburban and urban settings. Primarily Black females, living alone, and able to leave home without help.
Phenomenon Of Interest:
Financial and nonfinancial barriers to food access, awareness of services available.
Analysis:
Codes were assigned to portions of the text in which participants described how they learned about a service. These codes were categorized into one of the 3 larger themes that emerged: (1) intentionally sought by the participant, (2) intentional outreach by the service, and (3) encounters in daily life and environment.
Results:
Most connections to services were made through encounters in participants' daily life and environment; for example, word of mouth from family, friends or neighbors; connection through other services; referral from health care professionals; and seeing the service in their neighborhood.
Conclusions And Implications:
Robust social networks, medical screening, and referral may promote awareness of food assistance services. Future research and outreach should target those who are most isolated.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Taste Buds and Receptors
01:21Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
01:29Assessment of the Gastrointestinal System II: Health Perception Pattern
Health Perception Patterns
Health perception patterns offer valuable insights into a patient's lifestyle habits and how they may impact their GI health. These patterns include:
01:30Cognitive Development During Adulthood
01:26Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
01:30Heart Failure VII: Nursing Interventions