Foodservice satisfaction domains in geriatrics, rehabilitation and aged care

Objective: To develop a foodservice satisfaction instrument for residential aged care and geriatric/rehabilitation units. The quality of care and food provided for clients in long-term care facilities is critical for the prevention of malnutrition. Design: Cross-sectional survey and in-depth interviews. Setting: Nine residential aged care facilities and two geriatric/rehabilitation units in Southeast Queensland, Australia. Participants: A total of 103 geriatric/rehabilitation patients and 210 aged care residents. The median age was 84 years, with 72.1 % females. Measurements: Candidate satisfaction items were obtained from: (i) secondary analysis of acute care foodservice satisfaction data; (ii) focus groups with expert geriatrics/rehabilitation and aged care dietitians; (iii) pre-testing of instrument content, presentation format and response-scale (n=40) and (iv) pilot testing of the instrument (n=313). Sixty-one items on foodservice attributes, an overall satisfaction question, and demographic/contextual information were tested. Results: Principal components factor analysis and Velicer's MAP test revealed foodservice satisfaction was represented by 18 items within four factors: meal quality and enjoyment (α=0.91), autonomy (α=0.64), staff consideration (α=0.79), hunger and food quantity (α=0.67) and six independent items, totalling 24 foodservice characteristics. This represented around 40% of the variance in foodservice satisfaction. When a further 13 foodservice items were retained due to practical importance, the analysis explained around 64% of the variance in foodservice satisfaction. Conclusion: The Resident Foodservice Satisfaction Questionnaire is a novel measure of resident foodservice satisfaction and can be used to provide evidence for changes to food services that may improve or enhance resident satisfaction and assist in the prevention of a significant and modifiable cause of malnutrition. © 2010 Serdi and Springer Verlag France.