Paper Title
Perceived Availability of and Attitudes toward Healthy Food Choices in Assisted-Living Facilities in Kansas
Start Date
7-1-2011 4:00 PM
End Date
7-1-2011 5:15 PM
Track
1. Track 1 – Formal Paper Presentation
Subject Area
Food Service
Faculty Member
Name: Dr. Junehee Kwon Email: jkwon@ksu.edu
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to assess perceived availability of healthy food choices and examine relationships between attitudes, subjective norms (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), and behavior intention (BI) to consume healthy food at assisted-living facilities using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB). An instrument based on the theory of planned behavior (TpB) was developed and tested with 115 elderly residents in eight facilities in Kansas. The results showed that attitudes toward healthy food and SN were positively associated with consumption intention. However, PBC among residents was not a significant predictor of the intention to select healthy food choices. The results of this study confirmed that elderly population living in elder care facilities desires and are willing to choose healthy food choices but feel the lack of their control over food choices. Managers from these facilities may utilize this data to recognize their residents’ needs, investigate ways to improve residents’ diets, and potentially increase healthy food consumption of their elderly clients.
Keywords
Healthy food, elderly, assisted-living facilities, the theory of planned behavior, perceived availability, food choices
Perceived Availability of and Attitudes toward Healthy Food Choices in Assisted-Living Facilities in Kansas
The purpose of this project was to assess perceived availability of healthy food choices and examine relationships between attitudes, subjective norms (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), and behavior intention (BI) to consume healthy food at assisted-living facilities using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TpB). An instrument based on the theory of planned behavior (TpB) was developed and tested with 115 elderly residents in eight facilities in Kansas. The results showed that attitudes toward healthy food and SN were positively associated with consumption intention. However, PBC among residents was not a significant predictor of the intention to select healthy food choices. The results of this study confirmed that elderly population living in elder care facilities desires and are willing to choose healthy food choices but feel the lack of their control over food choices. Managers from these facilities may utilize this data to recognize their residents’ needs, investigate ways to improve residents’ diets, and potentially increase healthy food consumption of their elderly clients.