| Abstract: | Background：Family care functions have gradually declined with the advent of the aging society and the rapid change of the family pattern. besides, the community service catering to the elderly is in great demand with the increasing population of the disabled elderly living alone. Through the catering services provided by community, the nutritional status, health and quality of life of the elderly can be improved.
Objective：The purpose of this study is to understand the nutritional status of the elderly community, the demand for meal services, and the factors affecting feeding demands.
Methods：Research methods include questionnaire surveys on five Care Positions of Caring Community including Nantou City, Tsaotun Township, Chushan Township, Mingcheun Village, and Chungliao Village for the elderly aged 65 or above. According to the elderly roster on the point of visiting and caring, 392 people are selected for the survey and some volunteers who visit regularly are commissioned to interview. There are 384 valid samples retrieved, achieving the retrieve rate of 98%. Results：The results show that 70% of respondents suppose that to provide meal service for the elderly by the community is required, 52% supposed that should be provided by the government, nearly 80% hope to have home deliveries, 50% hope to have everyday meal services, and 40% hope to have afternoon and evening meal services a day. Most of the respondents can accept the meal at about 30 NT dollars for breakfast, 50 NT dollars for lunch and dinner respectively. From the estimation of their nutritional status, the normal accounts for 54%, the moderate risk for 36% and the high risk for nearly 10%. The ratio of expecting to have meal services at once for ones in high risk is higher than that for those in the normal or moderate risk. It is found that feeding demands depend on religious beliefs, living conditions, living expenses, transportation, shopping convenience, and viewpoints on “Meal Service for the elderly” by the logic-regression analysis. |
