Nutrition Care of the Older Adult, 4th Edition Doody's Expert Review Review Questionnaire ISBN: 9780880912310 ISBN-10: 0880912316 Copyright: 2025 Edition: 4th Editor: Niedert, Kathleen C., Richmond, Kathleen, Doody's Expert Review    Score: 92 Doody's Star Rating™ and Doody's Expert Review provide by Doody Enterprises, Inc. Reviewer: Amy Hess Fischl,  MS RDN LDN BC-ADM CDCES  (University of Chicago Medical Center) Description This is the fourth edition of a book on the nutrition care of older adults from both the Dietetics in Health Care Communities and Healthy Aging Dietetic practice groups of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The previous edition was published in 2016. It is interesting to note that this fourth edition comes 26 years after the first edition. In that time span, the role of caring for the older adult has evolved immensely. Purpose The purpose of the book is to provide registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) with up-to-date, useful information about caring for older adults. It provides a guide to and a foundation for the nutrition care of older adults in nursing homes, assisted living, and independent living. Given that people are living longer, the need for everyone to have the nutrition knowledge and skills to care for older adults is a very worthy objective. The book delivers details and clear recommendations to follow. Audience Although written for RDNs, this book will benefit all healthcare professionals who work with older adults. The book meets the needs of the intended audience. The editor and the contributors are credible authorities. Except for one pharmacist and a certified associate in project management (CAPM) who is the Director of Practice Competence at the Academy, all of the contributors are dietitians. Features The book includes four sections: an introduction to the nutrition care of the older adult; nutrition assessment; disease states and interventions, highlighting key nutrition issues in older adults including oral health, hydration, swallowing disorders, renal disease, diabetes, cancer, and skin integrity; and standards of compliance, focusing on federal guidelines, scope of practice for dietitians and emergency management with an appendix that provides a sample facility planning and policy documents for emergency preparedness. Each chapter includes tables and text boxes highlighting key information and reference materials. One useful feature of the book is that it begins with a full list of all the text boxes, tables, and figures, so that particular topics can be quickly located. This update includes three new chapters: food allergies, gastrointestinal issues, and neurological disorders. While some statistics related to specific chronic conditions are outdated in a few chapters, as the book is not meant as a true primer on specific conditions but an in-depth practice review of nutrition-related issues, it still meets that need very well. The text boxes and tables are the most important components in this handbook. In the oncology chapter, the text boxes, tables, and figures greatly enhance readers' knowledge. The details about nutrition suggestions for individuals undergoing immunosuppressive anticancer treatments, nutrition implications during radiation therapy, and nutrition interventions for side effects -- which is 3 1/2 pages - make it easy to give older adults with cancer sound, evidence-based recommendations. Assessment This book targets RDNs and other nutrition professionals working with older adults but could serve as a very practical manual and incredible reference for all healthcare professionals who specialize in geriatrics. This update is warranted because of the evolving nutrition landscape. Review Questionnaire Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 8 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 8 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 5 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 5 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 3 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 3 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 5 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book N/A 1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 10 1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? 10 ©2026 Doody Enterprises, Inc.