Feeding Assistants in Nursing Homes: Do They Know What They Are Doing?

Dan Frith

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services agreed five years ago to allow the use of paid "feeding assistants"––provided they achieve a certain level of training and have the approval of the state.

This change in policy was seen as a big victory for the owners of nursing homes because they could increase their profit by not having to use higher paid nursing staff (read "more highly trained nursing staff") to assist with many feeding tasks.

I am not saying the current use of feeding assistants has resulted in decreased care but feeding a nursing home resident with swallowing or other medical problems can be difficult, and risky. You don't have to read the newspapers too long before running across an article about a resident who choked to death on food.

Does your nursing home utilize feeding assistants? If so, are they properly trained? If not, here is a great training guideline published by the American Health Care Association.