Personal Care Assistance Needs of Obese Elders Entering Nursing Homes

Excessive body weight of newly admitted elderly nursing home residents is associated with greater use of personal care staff to perform selected ADLs. Other research has shown that increased ADL dependency is associated with increased cost, which coupled with the current finding suggests rising rates of obesity among the elderly and those entering nursing homes may strain the long-term care (LTC) system in terms of staffing and cost. Interventions to address these potential impacts should therefore be developed and tested.