Nursing home meals as social practices: Room for improvement

Lise Justesen; Svend Skafte Overgaard; Ute Walter; Niels Heine Kristensen; Anne Marie Beck

doi:10.1016/j.ijgfs.2025.101173

Nursing home meals as social practices: Room for improvement

Lise Justesen^*, Svend Skafte Overgaard, Ute Walter, Niels Heine Kristensen, Anne Marie Beck

^*Corresponding author

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

Abstract

Meal situations in nursing homes are crucial for residents’ identity and quality of life but are often impacted by physical and mental impairments. This ethnographic study conducted in a Danish nursing home aims to explore
meal practices as a social practice through eleven interviews with residents and four interviews with healthcare professionals, 100 h of observations, visual methods and thematic analysis. Five meal practices were identified:
Convivial-Meal-Practice, Healthy-Meal-Practice, Meal-Practice-as-Before, Hotel-Meal-Practice and Hospitable-Meal-Practice. These practices diverged and were contradictory despite a common goal. The nursing home attempted to replicate a home-like feeling through an individualized approach intertwined with health and conviviality-focused hotel practices, hindering residents from becoming part of a meal community. Hospitality actions and less structured meals allowed residents to engage socially. Recognizing and addressing individual and communal
needs can enhance commensality and contribute to a greater focus on the potential of meal situations including meals as an arena for rehabilitation

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Artikelnummer	101173
Tidsskrift	International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science
Vol/bind	40
Antal sider	9
ISSN	1878-450X
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2025.101173
Status	Udgivet - 2025

Link til dokument

10.1016/j.ijgfs.2025.101173

Citer dette

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title = "Nursing home meals as social practices: Room for improvement",

abstract = "Meal situations in nursing homes are crucial for residents' identity and quality of life but are often impacted by physical and mental impairments. This ethnographic study conducted in a Danish nursing home aims to explore meal practices as a social practice through eleven interviews with residents and four interviews with healthcare professionals, 100 h of observations, visual methods and thematic analysis. Five meal practices were identified: Convivial-Meal-Practice, Healthy-Meal-Practice, Meal-Practice-as-Before, Hotel-Meal-Practice and Hospitable-Meal-Practice. These practices diverged and were contradictory despite a common goal. The nursing home attempted to replicate a home-like feeling through an individualized approach intertwined with health and conviviality-focused hotel practices, hindering residents from becoming part of a meal community. Hospitality actions and less structured meals allowed residents to engage socially. Recognizing and addressing individual and communal needs can enhance commensality and contribute to a greater focus on the potential of meal situations including meals as an arena for rehabilitation",

keywords = "Nursing home, Meal practices, Hospitality, Social practices, Rehabilitation, Older adults",

author = "Lise Justesen and Overgaard, {Svend Skafte} and Ute Walter and Kristensen, {Niels Heine} and Beck, {Anne Marie}",

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AU - Walter, Ute

AU - Kristensen, Niels Heine

AU - Beck, Anne Marie

PY - 2025

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N2 - Meal situations in nursing homes are crucial for residents' identity and quality of life but are often impacted by physical and mental impairments. This ethnographic study conducted in a Danish nursing home aims to explore meal practices as a social practice through eleven interviews with residents and four interviews with healthcare professionals, 100 h of observations, visual methods and thematic analysis. Five meal practices were identified: Convivial-Meal-Practice, Healthy-Meal-Practice, Meal-Practice-as-Before, Hotel-Meal-Practice and Hospitable-Meal-Practice. These practices diverged and were contradictory despite a common goal. The nursing home attempted to replicate a home-like feeling through an individualized approach intertwined with health and conviviality-focused hotel practices, hindering residents from becoming part of a meal community. Hospitality actions and less structured meals allowed residents to engage socially. Recognizing and addressing individual and communal needs can enhance commensality and contribute to a greater focus on the potential of meal situations including meals as an arena for rehabilitation

AB - Meal situations in nursing homes are crucial for residents' identity and quality of life but are often impacted by physical and mental impairments. This ethnographic study conducted in a Danish nursing home aims to explore meal practices as a social practice through eleven interviews with residents and four interviews with healthcare professionals, 100 h of observations, visual methods and thematic analysis. Five meal practices were identified: Convivial-Meal-Practice, Healthy-Meal-Practice, Meal-Practice-as-Before, Hotel-Meal-Practice and Hospitable-Meal-Practice. These practices diverged and were contradictory despite a common goal. The nursing home attempted to replicate a home-like feeling through an individualized approach intertwined with health and conviviality-focused hotel practices, hindering residents from becoming part of a meal community. Hospitality actions and less structured meals allowed residents to engage socially. Recognizing and addressing individual and communal needs can enhance commensality and contribute to a greater focus on the potential of meal situations including meals as an arena for rehabilitation

KW - Nursing home

KW - Meal practices

KW - Hospitality

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KW - Rehabilitation

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