Food for elderly arises vivid debate

The open webinar arranged by the NKJ network Bridge Builders for researchers and professionals working in elderly care.
Text: Sari Ranta

After having arranged two workshops and participating the ICCAS conference in Lyon, the Bridge Builders network organized an open webinar on the 14th of June 2022.  It was for researchers, teachers and health and social care professionals working in elderly care. Due to the covid restrictions a webinar proved to be a workable solution.

The first part of the webinar consisted of Danish Breakfast Club studies (2018-2022) presented by Lise Justesen (University College Copenhagen), followed by a Swedish Creating caring places study presented by Anna Sandgren (Linnaeus University).  Both of these studies took place in a nursing home context. 


Three phases in the study

The Breakfast Club study, Hospitable meal practices as rehabilitation strategies in nursing homes, consists of three phases.  The first part (2018) included an ethnographic study and baseline measurements after which during the second part (2019) focus was on residents’ food related functionality, quality of life and principals for their involvement in food related activities. During the third part (2021) dynamic hospitality was implemented as everyday meal practices.


Malnourishment in nursing homes

The Swedish study, Creating caring spaces – development of mealtime interventions in nursing homes, points out that 50% of the residents in nursing homes are malnourished, 90% of people with dementia develop at some time behavioral and psychological symptoms and the mealtime is a key social focal point and occupies a large proportion of activity during a day. In this study Five Aspect Meal Model (FAMM) was used. This model is originally a tool for developing meal services in restaurants. The Room, the Meeting and Product together form the Atmosphere. The management control system serves as a tool for control and logistics. The aim was to develop interventions that target and expand caring qualities of mealtime environments for people living with dementia and besides this to optimize mealtime environments in nursing homes in a way that support health, QoL and well-being of the residents. 

The second session of the webinar started with a presentation named Development of healthy food -Healthy and sustainable foods for elderly by Cornelia Witthöft and Mohammed Hefni (Linnaeus University) from Sweden.  Food science is widely presented at the university of Linnaeus where research activities cover food chemistry and food composition, functional plant foods for a healthy diet, nutrition policies and sustainability, nutrition and bioavailability and food processing for functional ingredients. Special attention has been focused on the role of legumes in promoting health. Development of ingredients for new legume food, especially those that are folate-enhanced, has been emphasized. Also studies of bread with low GI, clinical intervention studies to enhance gut health and assessment of metabolic effects and identification of dietary biomarkers of legume intake using metabolomics and microbiomics have been carried out. One central aim has been to find sustainable ways to reduce the consumption of meat. To meet current and future societal changes we need interdisciplinary knowledge environments to gather prominent research, education, and collaboration.

The last presentation was by Kai-Victor Myrnes-Hansen (University of Stavanger, Norway) whose topic was Elderly and meal knowledge. He covered the impact of color of porcelain, how presentation can increase appetite, and knowledge of food can promote healthy life. Fridge stories vividly illustrated, how just one look into the fridge can reveal the state of the eating and meals of an elderly person living at home. The presentation covered the relations of good food, good health and good economy and rose the question what´s next. We need to figure out how we can join forces, increase cross-sectional research, develop education and the care to the best for the elderly and find out what it is, what they want.

Presentations rose questions and vivid conversation. Topics varied from theory and models to settings and methods, even to new ways of pizza baking. It seems that the network needs people outside universities, people who can put the scientific findings into action in the so-called real life. We are missing and inviting practitioners, such as nurses and social workers as well as service entrepreneurs and producers to join the network.  Based on what was heard and learned it is interesting to head towards planning future actions in the fall.

 

Bridge builders – Building sustainable nutritional bridges between research and health and wellbeing services for elderly
• Bridge Builders consists of expertise in food and nutrition research (healthy food, alternative proteins, mealtime interventions, aging) as well as in service applications and good practices (dietary habits and environments, training of social and health professionals). Participants represent Denmark (University College Copenhagen), Finland (South-Eastern University of Applied Sciences), Norway (University of Stavanger) and Sweden (Linnaeus University).

 

More information
sari.ranta(at)xamk.fi

 

 

 

New Nordic Food: OPEN CALL on sustainability with children/young as target groups

This open call is an opportunity to strengthen networking at a strategic level among central Nordic institutions. We want to gather the forces in the Nordic food culture movement with a focus on children and young people!

 

 

Collaborations and projects that meet the goals and criteria are welcome to apply, however, there is a particularly interest for applications in the following areas: 
Public food, such as school food 
Sustainable development and communication about Nordic food culture and Nordic diet 
• Sustainable meal tourism with a special focus on meals for children/young people

Application deadline: 30.09.2022 at 23.59 CEST 

Max funding: 500.000 DKK/project 

With this call, the steering group for New Nordic Food wishes to support projects and activities that fall within the framework of the Kitchen Manifesto and the current Nordic Nutrition Recommendations with sustainability as the overarching theme. 

The project must support and promote sustainable eating habits, and the focus can be, for example, the promotion of locally produced and organic food, gastronomic values, foreign food culture and traditional dishes/products or reducing food waste. The project can identify and test or disseminate best practices to promote interest in sustainable eating habits.

The target group of the project must be children and young people between 12-20 years, e.g. at institutions such as schools, high schools, boarding schools, folk high schools, food schools, vocational schools or similar in the Nordic countries.

Call text (EN)

Call text (DK)

Application form

New Nordic Food

 

Nordic workshop for interested in health and welfare of wild reindeer populations

Welcome to the 2nd TARANDUS workshop 26 April 2022!

Photo: Skarphéðinn Þórisson

The second workshop within the TARANDUS network will focus on health and welfare of wild reindeer populations. It will be coordinated by the East Iceland Nature Research Centre in cooperation with the National Veterinary Institute (SVA). As we are living in uncertain times when it comes to international travelling, we have decided to make it digital.

The workshop starts 13.00 and end 17.00 on 26th April 2022. Everybody interested is most welcome to join!

AGENDA

Register

 
If you are a PhD student (or Post Doc) and would like to be engaged in the TARANDUS PhD network, please send an e-mail to Karin Wallin (). We would like to invite all PhD students and Post Docs to join a meeting 10.00-12.00 on 27th of April 2022 in order to discuss your ongoing field work and/or manuscript.
 

The TARANDUS network gathers reindeer researchers from Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The network will cover many aspects of reindeer health and welfare linked to climate change. Please, contact Anna Omazic if you are interested to join the TARANDUS network. Web page

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NKJ network gets proposal accepted

The NKJ researcher network Bridge Builders has arranged their second workshop in Stavanger with good results and very happy participants.

 

The main goal for the workshop was to plan and co-write an abstract/presentation proposal for ICCAS 2022, (International Conference on Culinary Arts and Sciences 2022; Sustainable meal systems worldwide: Challenges for Culinary Arts and Sciences). The proposal was accepted in December 2021!

During our workshop we also had a chance to meet Stavanger’s PhD candidates, one of whom gave us an inspiring presentation of her research among the elderly. Discussions about future actions within education development were vivid as well as discussions about joint research and funding possibilities for continuing the network activities. Collaboration procedures, network theories and various approaches deserve further attention as well as strengthening the ways of sharing currently available materials.

The workshop offered us a stage to meet each other in person, an opportunity to get to know each other and our different ways of working, and to write together.  The workshop was described being mind opening, it strengthened the network, helped clarify our purpose and revealed a need of future discussions and preparations. Our meeting and days at Stavanger were filled with warm Norwegian spirit and overflowing hospitality.

At the coming conference, our network’s aim is to present the activities of the Bridge Builders network in order to discuss how a multidisciplinary approach can contribute with new knowledge to promote sustainable healthy aging in relation to food, nutrition, health and well-being services. We would furthermore like to invite researchers and practitioners who participate in the congress to join the network.

This spring we will continue our monthly online meetings and presentations of ongoing and future research areas related to healthy eating and aging from a holistic perspective. Also Erasmus+ exchange between several partners will go on as well as the preparation of articles and conference contributions.

Bridge Builders consists of expertise in food and nutrition research (healthy food, alternative proteins, mealtime interventions, aging) as well as in service applications and good practices (dietary habits and environments, training of social and health professionals). Participants represent Denmark (University College Copenhagen), Finland (South-Eastern University of Applied Sciences), Norway (University of Stavanger) and Sweden (Linnaeus University).

OPEN CALL: research networks in agriculture and food system

Researchers in agriculture and the food industry can now apply for funding for networking activities aimed at increasing the sectors’ sustainability, resilience and competitiveness.

Deadline for application submission is April 21th, 2022.

 

 

Text på svenska längre ner
With this funding opportunity, NKJ wants to interlink researchers in the Nordic region to find solutions on how to sustainably transform the food system.

That transformation is a powerful tool to reach the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). We need to change the way we produce, consume and think about food; a new food narrative that acknowledges systems issues in agriculture – from broken nutrient cycles to biodiversity loss, erosion, fossil fuel dependence and CO2 emissions – interlinked issues that could in part be solved at the regional level.

NKJ encourages networks that relate to aspects of transformation and transition in agriculture and the food system at large to apply for funding. The focus could be either on farms or focusing anywhere from the downstream refinement of agricultural products to upstream innovations and production flows needed to increase primary agricultural production in the Nordic region. The goal is to encourage activities directed to novel tools and improve current production to increase resilience, sustainability and competitiveness of agriculture in the Nordic region.

Call conditions
Networks should include applicants from research institutions from at least three different countries in the Nordic region.

Each gender must be represented by a minimum of 40% of the participants in the network.

PhD students and young researchers should be included in the network.

Network grants are for two years of activities from August 2022 to July 2024.

Stakeholders are encouraged to participate but cannot be main applicants.

Economic framework
The amount applied for from NKJ can be maximum 300.000 SEK. The funding should primarily be spent on costs for arranging scientific meetings, workshops and conferences including accommodation, travel and conference fees but could also cover costs for designing policy recommendations based on research findings, write large-scale research funding applications, creating or maintaining databases or websites (excluding hardware) and communication activities.

Networks are expected to co-finance at least 50% of the total budget.

Read more:
Call text

Application form

 

 

Text in Swedish

Forskare inom jordbruk och livsmedelsindustri kan nu söka medel för nätverksaktiviteter som syftar till att öka sektorernas hållbarhet, motståndskraft och konkurrenskraft.

Sista dag för ansökan är 21 April 2022.

 

 

Med denna utlysning vill NKJ länka samman nordiska forskare för att hitta ett hållbart sätt att omvandla livsmedelssystemet.

Den omvandlingen är ett kraftfullt verktyg för att nå de 17 globala hållbarhetsmålen. Vi måste förändra vårt sätt att producera, konsumera och tänka på mat; ett nytt matbegrepp som tar hänsyn till de systemproblem som finns inom jordbruket: från brutna näringskretslopp till förlust av biologisk mångfald, erosion, beroende av fossila bränslen och CO2-utsläpp – frågor som hänger ihop och som delvis skulle kunna lösas på regional nivå.

NKJ uppmuntrar nätverk som relaterar till olika aspekter av omvandling och omställning av jordbruket och livsmedelssystemet i stort att skicka in sin ansökan. Fokus kan vara antingen på gårdsnivå eller valfri nivå i kedjan från förädling av jordbruksprodukter, till innovationer och produktionsflöden som behövs för att öka den primära jordbruksproduktionen i Norden.

NKJ vill uppmuntra aktiviteter som syftar till att åstadkomma nya verktyg och förbättra nuvarande produktion för att öka motståndskraften, hållbarheten och konkurrenskraften för jordbruket i Norden.

Krav
Nätverk ska ha sökande från forskningsinstitutioner i minst tre olika nordiska länder.

Vardera könen ska vara representerade av minst 40% av nätverkets medlemmar. 

PhD-studenter och unga forskare ska vara aktiva i nätverket.

Finansiering ges för aktiviteter från augusti 2022 till juli 2024.

Intressenter utanför forskarvärlden uppmuntras att delta i nätverken men kan inte vara huvudsökande.

Ekonomiska ramar
Finansieringen från NKJ uppgår som mest till 300 000 SEK. Finansieringen ska främst gå till att arrangera vetenskapliga möten, workshops och konferenser inkluderande boende, resor och konferensavgifter men kan också användas för att utforma policy.rekommendationer baserade på forskningsrön, skriva större ansökningar om forskningsmedel, skapa databaser och hemsidor och kommunikationsinsatser.

Läs mer:
Utlysningstext

Ansökningsformulär

Extended networking on reindeer health and welfare

The interest for reindeer husbandry and climate change is big. The NKJ funded network Tarandus has grown from 20 to 100 members during the year.

 

Reindeer health and animal welfare was the focus for the first network meeting, held 23-24 november in Kiruna, Sweden. The two day workshop included several presentations as well as discussions and networking. The organizers hope for an increase in collaborations on the subject across the Nordic countries after the meeting.

The participants are researchers and others who work in various ways with reindeer health and welfare, infectious diseases, supplementary feeding and health of wild reindeer. Some joined physically in Kiruna, others participated digitally.

Next Tarandus workshop, with the theme infectious diseases, will be coordinated by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE) with satellite activities and study visit.

Nordic workshop for interested in reindeer health and welfare

Welcome to the 1st TARANDUS workshop 23-24 November in Kiruna, Sweden.

 

The first lunch to lunch workshop within the TARANDUS network will focus on animal health and welfare, coordinated by the National Veterinary Institute (SVA). The accommodation will be hotel Ripan in Kiruna, Sweden, 23-24 November 2021.

If it’s not possible for you to join us in Kiruna, you will be able to join part of the workshop program digitally. If the covid-19 pandemic will stop us from having a physical meeting in Kiruna, then we will arrange a digital workshop for all participants.

Agenda

Info and registration (at the latest Oct 15th) here

 

The TARANDUS network gathers reindeer researchers from Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. The network will cover many aspects of reindeer health and welfare linked to climate change.

Please, contact Anna Omazic () if you are interested to join the TARANDUS network.

The epidemiology of pathogenes on apples in focus

Symtoms and defence reactions were in focus of the first network meeting of the NKJ-funded Nordic Apple Network May 18-19, 2021.

 

 

First on the agenda was an update on the current situation of fruit quality after storage and storage losses, presented by the representatives from the industry from all four participating countries. This update was followed by presentations of the ongoing research on storage conditions, storage disorders and storage diseases.

The presentations were accompanied by fruitful discussions and exchange of knowledge, regarding current problems as well as research needs, with emphasis on fruit quality loss, storage rots and physiological decay. Special attention was given to the diversity of the disease- and disorder symptoms, pathogens and their epidemiology and to the diversity of the defence reactions among cultivars. The participants stressed the importance of good pre-harvest practices for reducing post-harvest losses. Future collaborations, funding opportunities and the contents of the next workshop were also discussed. 

The meeting was hosted by SLU and took place online where 35 participants, representing research, growers, advisory services, packing houses and authorities exchanged their knowledge and experiences.

The network unites participants from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, and addresses the issue of post-harvest losses. The focus is on how to achieve improved plant health via better knowledge of epidemiology, novel monitoring tools, knowledge of cultivar pre- and postharvest physiology, disease resistance, and cultivation practices.

BioEquality forum 1: Female role models for gender balance

Discussion forum 1 of 3 in the BioEquality series

Role models for a gender balanced digital bioeconomy 

One of the action points suggested in the report Redefining digital bioeconomy to make the digital bioeconomy more gender equal is to increase the number of female role models and thereby diversify the masculine image, creating more inclusiveness. This type of action aims to serve to set an example and encourage women to seek education related to, and employment in, the digital bioeconomy. This alone is not enough considering that the very structures of bioeconomy and tech industries remain masculine, however it is an important stepping stone in increasing the number of females in the sector. 

This discussion forum is part of a series aiming to open up for discussions on how the education of young academics can integrate the gender perspective into the meeting between digitalisation and bioeconomy. The discussion forums are initiated and financed by Nordic Forest Research, Nordic Agri Research and the Nordic Council of Ministers. 

When: 26th of May, 10.00-11.30 CET 
To solve any technical problems, please log in to the discussion forum no later than 09.55 

Where: Online via Zoom 
Participants will be provided with a link to the discussion forum on Monday 24th of May 

RSVP: 19th of May to

Agenda

• Welcome and introduction 

• Three inspirational speeches – One teacher, one student and one female role model share their point of view on female role models 

• Group discussions on who are the role models for young women – How is one classified as a role model? Do they have to be women? Is it women far ahead in their careers, that have taken the same path as them, that have the same educational background? 

• Brainstorming ideas on how role models can take a more active role at universities – 

Examples could involve inviting role models to inspirational lectures in courses, ask them to mentor students etc. 

• Reflections in larger group 

• Closing remarks 

Welcome!

Vivid conversations and new ideas for future food

To start a new cooperation could possibly be surprising and fruitful. The first network meeting in Bridge Builders was, it revealed a wide range of research and topics that have a lot of impact.

Text: Sari Ranta

 

The first workshop of the project was held in March. The theme was “let’s learn from each other”. 

The studies presented dealt with a targeted innovative rehabilitating meals-on-wheels service for old people, findings of the Breakfast Club study, that  involves residents in nursing homes in food related activities and Creating caring spaces, a study that has focus on mealtime interventions in nursing homes. Also results of the Meal Aspects 2.0  study – 20 years later, and Agefood 2.0 study (elderly persons food services in changing environments) were covered. In addition food and nutrition science at LNU and Stavanger’s Cognitive Lab at UiS and also Finnish Food recommendations for older adults were presented.

Presentations rise vivid conversations and produced ideas on which put the accent in future. Understanding Nordic perspective acquires attention; remote areas, best practices supporting healthy eating, participation and socializing are of primary concern. Supporting joint curriculum development and sharing already available materials were also emphasized. Based on what was learned it is interesting to head towards the project’s second workshop this fall.

Bridge builders – Building sustainable nutritional bridges between research and health and wellbeing services for elderly” consists of expertise in food and nutrition research (healthy food, alternative proteins, mealtime interventions, aging) as well as in service applications and good practices (dietary habits and environments, training of social and health professionals). Participants represent Denmark (University College Copenhagen), Finland (South-Eastern University of Applied Sciences), Norway (University of Stavanger) and Sweden (Linnaeus University).

More information: