Feeding nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease.

The purpose of this exploratory, descriptive study was to identify and categorize the behaviors of caregivers and residents that elicit, sustain, or extinguish feeding. Although preliminary analysis yielded initial categories, mutually exclusive categories were difficult to distinguish. Relationships among identified cues and specific feeding behaviors are being examined in further analysis. The relationship between specific feeding behaviors and the environmental context of feeding is also being examined. The goals of studying feeding behaviors in nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease are to enhance mealtime for both residents and caregivers and to encourage functional feeding behavior as much as possible. Identification of behaviors that elicit, sustain, and extinguish functional feeding can facilitate development of behavioral and environmental nursing interventions to promote functional feeding.