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Approximately 14% of free‐living adults aged ≥65 years are at risk of malnutrition. Malnutrition screen and treat interventions in primary care are few, show mixed results, and the advice given is not always accepted and followed. We need to better understand the experiences and contexts of older adults when aiming to develop interventions that are engaging, optimally persuasive and relevant.

Using the Person‐based Approach, we carried out 23 semi‐structured interviews with purposively selected adults ≥65 years with chronic health or social conditions associated with malnutrition risk. Thematic analysis informed the development of key principles to guide planned intervention development.

We found that individuals’ beliefs about an inevitable decline in appetite and eating in older age compound the many and varied physical and physiological barriers that they experience …