A new study by Consumatics on malnutrition and quality of life in seven nursing homes examined the effect of distributing the scent of bread before and during meals. Results show that this had a positive impact on the experience by 9%. Besides that, the studied residents of nursing homes felt 12% happier after their bread meal (in comparison to when there is no bread scent) and felt that their quality of life increased by 10%.
Malnutrition is a big problem for the health and wellbeing of many elderly people. They can experience loss of muscle mass, low resistance, bad healing of wounds and in the end a decrease in quality of life – and, for some, with death as an indirect result. Malnutrition can have multiple causes, but one thing is for sure: elderly people need to eat right. Research showed that scent could contribute to this.
Not only the meal itself contributes to the meal experience. There are a lot of other, related factors. Environmental cues, for example scent, have a positive effect on the state of mind and consumption behavior of residents. Positive feelings ensure that the residents will eat more; negative feelings have the opposite effect. So it is important to create a happy ambiance during meals in nursing homes.
Researchers from Consumatics examined the effects of distributing a bread scent before and during meals in nursing homes. Research took place across seven nursing homes, 154 elderly people participated. During six to eight weeks different variables, including scent, were examined. When scent was tested, subjects were exposed to a bread scent before and during a bread meal. The scent was dispersed 15 minutes before the meal for 75 minutes. For the experiment a Premium Scenting scent dispenser and bread scent were used.
Results were highly interesting. They showed that dispersing a scent positively affects the experience of the meal. Residents felt happier during the meal because of the scent. The scent also contributes to the perceived taste of the meal. Residents experienced the food as tastier. This leads to higher food intake, which might lead to a healthy weight gain in the future. In this way, scent can strongly contribute to the quality of life for residents of a nursing home!
Fact is that it is important that elderly people eat enough. Nursing homes would do well to pay attention not only to the meal itself, but also to other related factors. Environmental cues like scent can contribute a lot to this.
Premium Scenting is highly skilled at designing scent programmes for care home environments. Smell is the most emotive sense and with the right scenting programme, care homes can achieve a wonderful balance of benefits to meet the needs of residents, visiting families and hard-working staff. Premium Scenting enhances environments, enabling scent of influence emotions, wellbeing and actions.
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