Drinking vessel preferences in older nursing home residents: optimal design and potential for increasing fluid intake.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: residents in nursing and residential care homes are at risk of dehydration due to both resident and institutional factors. Previous studies have focused on improving fluid intakes by concentrating on types of fluids offered and assisting residents to drink. AIM: to determine resident opinion of the optimal features of drinking vessels and evaluate the impact of improving vessel design on fluid consumption. METHODS: residents from two units (25-bed and 21-bed) in one nursing home evaluated a range of drinking vessels. Vessels with preferred features were introduced on a 25-bed unit. The effect was tested by observing residents' fluid consumption during breakfast on three consecutive days and comparing with baseline intakes. FINDINGS: vessels that received the highest ratings were lightweight, had large handles and held 200-300 ml of fluid. Following the introduction of the new drinking vessels, mean fluid intakes at breakfast increased from 139 ml (±84 ml) to 205 ml (±12 ml, n=65), p=0.003. CONCLUSION: some drinking vessels used in nursing homes may be difficult for residents to handle. Making improvements to the design of drinking vessels has the potential to increase fluid intakes without increasing staff workload.