Help maintain your residents’ health and wellbeing through careful weight monitoring and analysis.
Residents should be weighed on admission or readmission and then once per week for the first four weeks following admission. After that, they should be checked at least once per month.
Knowing the status of a resident’s weight is important for prescribing medication, checking fluid balance and assessing nutritional needs. It also helps to flag up any health concerns by tracking sudden or unexplained weight losses or gains.
A care or nursing home resident’s sudden weight loss may be a sign of an untreated sickness, medication troubles or emotional issues. This should always be carefully monitored and treated to prevent things from getting worse and weight loss from becoming unmanageable, further down the line.
Make healthy, tempting meals that can help your residents prevent weight loss by containing all the nutrients they require for a healthy diet. Check what repercussions their medication may have on their weight and take action to mitigate against anything concerning. Encourage people to eat regularly and avoid skipping meals if possible. A multivitamin/mineral supplement may also be introduced to ensure adequate nutritional intake.
Weigh the person every day at the same time for consistent results. A good time of day for this is to weigh the resident first thing in the morning, before breakfast. Always use the same scales and make sure they are evenly balanced and working correctly. Ask the person to remove their shoes to gain the most accurate reading.