Hydrate for Health: Listening to Older Adults’ Need for Information

Abstract

An interdisciplinary team of faculty and students developed the Hydrate for Health project to provide relevant and evidence-based information to community-dwelling older adults. Evidence-based factsheets on bladder health, nighttime urination, medication safety, and physical activity/exercise, as well as a fluid intake self-monitoring tool, were developed. Four focus groups were conducted and included older adults (N = 21) who participated in activities at two local senior centers to obtain their feedback about the relevance of the factsheets. Extensive revisions were required based on the feedback received. Older adults expressed a desire for pragmatic information (i.e., how to determine fluid sources from food, how to measure water, how to determine their own fluid needs). They also wanted information that could be easily incorporated into daily life. Nurses play a central role in listening to and incorporating older adults' voices into consumer education materials.

Associação entre autopercepção de saúde, estado nutricional e qualidade de vida de idosos

“…Destaca-se, assim, a relevância das ações de promoção à saúde, que incluem a educação e o engajamento em comportamentos saudáveis, que auxiliem os idosos a compreenderem a importância da hidratação e as consequências da baixa ingestão de líquidos, como fadiga, delirium, infecção do trato urinário, agravamento da incontinência urinária e constipação intestinal. Tais ações podem interferir na melhor percepção de saúde e de qualidade de vida dessa população [29].…”