Eat Well- Age Well: The Importance of Nutrition for Healthy Aging Objectives Join this session and walk away with tips and tools to better understand: • Why healthy eating matters for seniors • Eating patterns linked with longevity and lower rates of chronic disease • Changing nutrient needs and common nutrition concerns with aging • How to detect malnutrition, frailty and common nutritional deficiencies in older adults • Screening tools and malnutrition care pathways created for primary care settings
Michele MacDonald Werstuck RD MSC CDE Nutrition Groups Coordinator, Hamilton Family Health Team As a RD working in family health teams for the past 30 years, Michele is a proud supporter of innovative models of collaborative care and creating tools and interprofessional care pathways for vulnerable populations in primary care. She has been instrumental in championing efforts to embed nutrition screening for older adults within her family health team and across the province as Chair of the Senior Malnutrition Dietitians of Canada – Primary Health Care Action Group as well as creating care pathways for pre and post bariatric and eating disorder care. More recently Michele has been part of the CMTF Primary and Community Care working group working together to offer tools and training for primary care teams across the country. Michele is here today to talk about the importance of optimal nutrition for healthy aging, highlight opportunities for early detection and intervention for seniors at nutritional risk, and share lessons learned from malnutrition screening efforts in primary care.