MANUEL (2015)

BACKGROUND
Numerous reports show that many people, especially in the elderly population, suffer from under- or malnutrition which as a consequence can worsen a person’s overall physical and health status.
In order to tackle the increasing problem of malnutrition in the elderly population research is needed to develop and test harmonized European standards for the definition and detection of malnutrition, to develop and validate reliable instruments for quick and easy screening of malnutrition, to improve existing or develop new medical nutrition therapies for chronic disease patients that do not compromise their nutritional status. Pilot projects of continuous data collection and feedback in different settings, from the community to the tertiary hospital, that have started as local initiatives need to be extended across Europe to increase validity and impact. Benchmarking between health care institutions will be possible with the evidence based selection of quality indicators of nutrition care. It is also imperative to gather information on the benefits achieved by specific measures to prevent and/or treat malnutrition. In this way, futile interventions shall be avoided and effective, evidence-based approaches can be proposed for implementation through the different levels of care.

AIM OF THE CALL
The main objective of the Joint Action “Malnutrition in the Elderly Knowledge Hub” was to support transnational networking activities on:

• The definition of malnutrition in the elderly
• Integration and harmonisation of available valid and reliable screening instruments to enable identification of groups of elderly people that will benefit from nutrition interventions in different settings (e.g., home care, nursing homes, hospitals) and countries.

The purpose of the Knowledge Hub (KH) was to increase and facilitate transnational communication, cooperation and coordination between individual researchers, research groups and research organisations in order to build a productive and sustainable competence network in the field of malnutrition.

WHO

Funding organisations participating in the Malnutrition in the Elderly KH will fund new activities and/or redirect existing funding/capacities (i.e., an in kind contribution) towards the needs of the KH. Each funding organisation will be responsible for deciding which of the national researchers and research groups are eligible to join the KH and the type (new or in kind) and level of funding it makes available to the selected members. Therefore, applicants are advised to check their respective funding organisations’ eligibility regulations (see ANNEX 1). The aim for the selection process is to result in a well balanced network of members providing all the necessary expertise required by the KH.