Nutrition and physical function in older adults
Leader
Office
Postal adress
Visitors adress
Nutrition and physical function in older adults
Older people are at high risk of nutritional and mobility deficits. These two components have a significant influence on each other. If malnutrition occurs in the sense of a micro- or macronutrient deficit, it affects muscle mass and thus often also muscle strength and physical functionality. The risk of falling increases sharply. According to the Federal Statistical Office, at least one in three German citizens over the age of 65 reported falling in the past two years [Statista 2022]. Many falls lead to immobility, need for care [Icks, Deutsches Ärzteblatt 2005], sometimes even to death. In the geriatric context, the recording and assessment of nutritional status and physical functionality are important components in nutritional and physiotherapy and medical care. However, the early identification of a risk of deficits can hardly be guaranteed due to the irregular and often insufficient recording.
At this point, digitalisation represents an opportunity to improve care in general and the individual health situation.
In its research, the group Nutrition and physical function in older adults aims, on the one hand, to analyse the correlations between parameters of the nutrition and mobility status of older people in the sense of basic research, and, on the other hand, to determine the needs for technical support of nutrition and mobility of seniors in different settings, taking into account the lower affinity for technology and the greater structural and individual barriers of seniors. In this context, technology for recording the nutritional status, body composition and physical functionality and mobility is developed, evaluated and, if necessary, used in the field of risk diagnostics and therapy in a continuous process under a user-centred process.
The research takes into account the disciplines of nutritional sciences, medical technology, physiotherapy, informatics, medicine and evidence-based health care and also applies corresponding methods.