Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital

Abstract Background The Chinese government is piloting canteen services for older adults, but few studies have explored the influence of canteen services on the health of these older adults. This study aimed to investigate the impact of canteen services on older adults’ general mental health, nutrit...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaolei Wang, Minhui Liu, Yuchen Li, Chanyuan Guo, Chao Hsing Yeh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020-02-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8305-9
id doaj-4ca61213a79744e0bafa86ba7c29a972
record_format Article
spelling doaj-4ca61213a79744e0bafa86ba7c29a9722021-02-14T12:04:28ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582020-02-012011910.1186/s12889-020-8305-9Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capitalXiaolei Wang0Minhui Liu1Yuchen Li2Chanyuan Guo3Chao Hsing Yeh4Department of Nursing, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal UniversityXiangya Nursing School, Central South UniversityDepartment of Nursing, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal UniversityDepartment of Nursing, School of Medicine, Hangzhou Normal UniversityJohns Hopkins University School of NursingAbstract Background The Chinese government is piloting canteen services for older adults, but few studies have explored the influence of canteen services on the health of these older adults. This study aimed to investigate the impact of canteen services on older adults’ general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital in rural areas. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design. We selected 14 villages in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China, including seven villages with canteen services and seven villages without canteen services. Participants were 284 senior older adults (aged 75~98), including 140 residing in villages with canteen services (Canteen Group [CG]) and 144 residing in villages without canteen services (Non-Canteen Group [NCG]). We also divided the CG into two sub-groups according to the funding sources (one receiving government support only, the other receiving government support plus enterprise donations). We used a self-designed questionnaire, including sociodemographics, diet-related items (e.g., satisfaction with the meals, diet expenditure, self-evaluation of meal nutrition), and the four scales including the Chinese version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Chinese version of the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Social Capital Questionnaire (SCQ). Results The overall mental health, satisfaction with life, and social capital of the CG were better than the NCG (P <  0.05). The nutritional status of these two groups did not show a significant difference. Participants in the CG with financial support from local government and donations from an enterprise with a better dietary diversity exhibited a better nutritional status (P <  0.05); the average satisfaction with diet and self-evaluation of food nutrition of the CG were higher than the NCG (P < 0.05); the ratio of having a diet on time in the CG was higher than that of the NCG (P < 0.05). Conclusion The free canteen services provided by the government can improve older adults’ satisfaction with life and diet, and mental health status and also enrich their social capital, but this still needs to be future evidenced. More financial support for canteen services is an essential component in promoting successful aging in China.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8305-9Older adultsNutritionHealthSocial capitalSatisfaction with life
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Xiaolei Wang
Minhui Liu
Yuchen Li
Chanyuan Guo
Chao Hsing Yeh
spellingShingle Xiaolei Wang
Minhui Liu
Yuchen Li
Chanyuan Guo
Chao Hsing Yeh
Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital
BMC Public Health
Older adults
Nutrition
Health
Social capital
Satisfaction with life
author_facet Xiaolei Wang
Minhui Liu
Yuchen Li
Chanyuan Guo
Chao Hsing Yeh
author_sort Xiaolei Wang
title Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital
title_short Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital
title_full Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital
title_fullStr Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital
title_full_unstemmed Community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital
title_sort community canteen services for the rural elderly: determining impacts on general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital
publisher BMC
series BMC Public Health
issn 1471-2458
publishDate 2020-02-01
description Abstract Background The Chinese government is piloting canteen services for older adults, but few studies have explored the influence of canteen services on the health of these older adults. This study aimed to investigate the impact of canteen services on older adults’ general mental health, nutritional status, satisfaction with life, and social capital in rural areas. Methods This study used a cross-sectional design. We selected 14 villages in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China, including seven villages with canteen services and seven villages without canteen services. Participants were 284 senior older adults (aged 75~98), including 140 residing in villages with canteen services (Canteen Group [CG]) and 144 residing in villages without canteen services (Non-Canteen Group [NCG]). We also divided the CG into two sub-groups according to the funding sources (one receiving government support only, the other receiving government support plus enterprise donations). We used a self-designed questionnaire, including sociodemographics, diet-related items (e.g., satisfaction with the meals, diet expenditure, self-evaluation of meal nutrition), and the four scales including the Chinese version of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Chinese version of the Mini Nutritional Assessment Short-Form (MNA-SF), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the Social Capital Questionnaire (SCQ). Results The overall mental health, satisfaction with life, and social capital of the CG were better than the NCG (P <  0.05). The nutritional status of these two groups did not show a significant difference. Participants in the CG with financial support from local government and donations from an enterprise with a better dietary diversity exhibited a better nutritional status (P <  0.05); the average satisfaction with diet and self-evaluation of food nutrition of the CG were higher than the NCG (P < 0.05); the ratio of having a diet on time in the CG was higher than that of the NCG (P < 0.05). Conclusion The free canteen services provided by the government can improve older adults’ satisfaction with life and diet, and mental health status and also enrich their social capital, but this still needs to be future evidenced. More financial support for canteen services is an essential component in promoting successful aging in China.
topic Older adults
Nutrition
Health
Social capital
Satisfaction with life
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-8305-9
work_keys_str_mv AT xiaoleiwang communitycanteenservicesfortheruralelderlydeterminingimpactsongeneralmentalhealthnutritionalstatussatisfactionwithlifeandsocialcapital
AT minhuiliu communitycanteenservicesfortheruralelderlydeterminingimpactsongeneralmentalhealthnutritionalstatussatisfactionwithlifeandsocialcapital
AT yuchenli communitycanteenservicesfortheruralelderlydeterminingimpactsongeneralmentalhealthnutritionalstatussatisfactionwithlifeandsocialcapital
AT chanyuanguo communitycanteenservicesfortheruralelderlydeterminingimpactsongeneralmentalhealthnutritionalstatussatisfactionwithlifeandsocialcapital
AT chaohsingyeh communitycanteenservicesfortheruralelderlydeterminingimpactsongeneralmentalhealthnutritionalstatussatisfactionwithlifeandsocialcapital
_version_ 1724271094025682944