| The main goal of this qualitative study was to describe what it was like for seniors to learn they were at risk through an ethical nutrition screening process and to determine the contextual influences that shaped their experience. Descriptive phenomenology was used to determine the commonalities or essences of this experience. Secondary goals, addressed by thematic analysis, were to learn what nutrition risk meant in general to participants, how they made their food choices, and how they responded to nutrition recommendations provided with their screening results. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 22 seniors who learned they were at nutrition risk through a mailed feedback letter after completing a nutrition risk screening questionnaire (SCREEN IIRTM). Results of this study give insight into nutrition risk perception, ways to improve nutrition risk communication, and potential barriers to change. Implications for adapting an ethical nutrition screening process to help reduce risk are discussed. |
