Mobility involves more than the movement from one point to another. The nature of the assistive nurse-client relationship and the resident's subjective perspective must become central to understanding the meaning of mobility for residents in a long-term care facility.

Focus groups were conducted with staff in a geriatric care facility who provided mealtime assistance during a quarantine that prevented family members from entering the facility. The volunteers' accounts reflected 3 primary themes that influenced their experience as mealtime assistants. First, the role of volunteer-recipient relationships emerged as paramount in facilitating optimal mealtime care. Strong reinforcement was derived from small signs of gratitude and awareness in the residents' nonverbal behaviors. This fostered the volunteers' sense of fiduciary responsibility toward the resident, thereby facilitating a meaningful and successful mealtime experience. Second, it was clear that the experience of being a mealtime assistant evolved over time, with changes in volunteer attitude mediated directly by the relationships that developed between volunteers and recipients. Lastly, the data reflect a strong awareness among volunteers of the challenges faced by nursing staff on a daily basis with respect to meeting the mealtime needs of residents in long-term care institutions, and a concern that nursing staff have insufficient time to develop intimate relationships with residents at the mealtime. These data strongly suggest that volunteer-assisted mealtime programs that focus primarily on social relationships can enhance the mealtime experience for residents in long-term care institutions.Data for this study were collected at Baycrest (www.baycrest.org), a geriatric care facility in Toronto, Canada. The second and third authors held a primary affiliation with Baycrest at the time of data collection. The authors recognize the contributions of Sonia Reichman, Susan Romeril, Carol Robertson, Pia Kontos, and Minn Yoon to the design, conduct, and analysis of the study. In addition, the authors acknowledge the T HE need for assistance at mealtimes is alarmingly common in long-term care institutions, with published estimates ranging from 45% to 80% of the institutionalized elderly. 1-3 Musson et al 1 have reported that it is typical for a single nursing staff member to be responsible for assisting 8-10 patients per meal, with the types of required assistance