Date of Graduation
Summer 8-14-2026
Document Access
Project/Capstone - Global access
Degree Name
Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
College/School
School of Nursing and Health Professions
Program
MSN project
First Advisor
Mahmoud Kaddoura
Abstract
Objective: Malnutrition is a serious concern that greatly impacts the elderly who reside in senior facilities with limited income, food insecurity, transportation barriers, and inadequate nutrition knowledge. Aim: This quality improvement (QI) project aimed to bring up the residents of Facility A's levels of nutrition knowledge and confidence by 20%, via a ten-week nutrition education implementation. Methods: The QI comprised weekly 60-minute lessons on preparing meals, monitoring nutrition, interpreting nutrition labels, and recognizing healthy foods. To examine changes in dietary knowledge and confidence, a 10-question survey was distributed using a five-point scale. Results: 24 residents completed a baseline survey, whereas 17 completed the post-intervention survey. Nine individuals filled out both the pre- and post-intervention surveys. The intervention led to greater mean scores on all ten survey questions. The analysis revealed statistically significant improvement in Questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, and 10, using a one-sided p-value, as well as statistically significant differences in Questions 2, 4, 6, 9, and 10 with two-sided p-value. Overall, nutrition knowledge increased by 12.3%, while confidence increased by 13.31%; however, neither outcome accomplished the project's target for 20% growth. Low attendance, language barriers, socioeconomic challenges, a short intervention duration, and a small sample size could all have contributed to the results. Conclusions: Despite failing to reach the intended goal, the findings indicate that nutrition education is a promising, low-cost, evidence-based method to promoting nutrition knowledge and confidence among the elderly living in community-based senior housing. Future QIs could include prolonged interventions, events to improve attendance and language accessibility, and objective metrics to assess long-term behavioral and health outcomes.
Recommended Citation
Chen, Winnie Y., "Healthy Eating and Aging: Improving Nutrition Knowledge and Confidence for Senior Housing Residents" (2026). Master's Projects and Capstones. 2055.
https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/2055
