Towards Healthy Diets and Sustainable Nutritional Behavior: Identifying Design Opportunities for Technology-Supported Malnutrition Care

Background: Malnutrition is common among older adults aged 65 years and over and is associated with physical and mental health risks. Malnutrition is a complex condition; supporting older adults in achieving healthy, sustainable dietary behaviors remains a challenge for care professionals. Assistive technologies to support malnutrition care, such as monitoring tools, social robots, or smart spoons, are often poorly adapted to real-world contexts and fail to sustain long-term engagement. Method: A design research approach was used to understand care practices better and explore design opportunities for assistive technologies. Eight in-depth, qualitative interviews were conducted with dietitians treating older adults with malnutrition. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed through thematic analysis. A five-phase patient journey was created as a visual tool to identify where assistive technologies could improve the care process and define design requirements. Results: Dietitians face challenges due to the dynamic nature of patient journeys, limited time for personalized care, difficulty in monitoring progress, and unclear collaboration with other care providers. Conclusions: This study contributed by reframing malnutrition as a dynamic, multi-actor patient journey in which assistive technology can play a supportive role at different phases, supporting collaboration, facilitating relationship-building, and involving the larger care network.