Formed in 2006, in response to a call by Help the Hospices, the Food and Nutrition Group aims to include professionals from a range of different disciplines as well as service users, in raising standards and awareness of the role of food and nutrition in palliative care.
Aims
The group's aims are to:
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develop dialogue and debate
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encourage research and disseminate information
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identify national initiatives that will impact on the delivery of patient care within hospices and to advise the Practice Development Reference Group on the appropriate action
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lead on projects that will promote evidence-based practice in hospice palliative care where appropriate.
Membership
The Food and Nutrition Group members are drawn from a large number of professions working in palliative care, including:
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doctors
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nurses
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academic / researcher
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dietitians
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physiotherapists
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chefs
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caterers
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social care workers
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service users
Members also include representatives from:
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National Patient Safety Agency
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Royal College of Nursing
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British Association for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition
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National Association of Care Catering.
Activites
Courses
The Food and Nutrition Group has organised two conferences in 2009 on 'Food and Nutrition in Palliative Care – The way forward', in Birmingham and Manchester to:
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highlight key nutritional issues in everyday practice
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present the patient / family view on the personal impact of appetite change, weight loss and feelings about the inability to eat
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discuss the issues around nutritional screening in patients
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promote useful, practical examples of local and national work to improve the quality of nutritional care of patients.
Consensus statement
The Food and Nutrition Group's Consensus Statement summarises the group’s key objectives and priorities for their work in raising awareness around the nutritional issues faced in palliative care.
The agreement of the Consensus Statement gives definition to the group's work in building a Nutritional Audit Tool and also the Nutrition Survey 2009, which was piloted at the February 'Food and Nutrition in Palliative Care – The way forward' conference. The survey will go on line in the autumn and aims to:
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identify nutritional issues in everyday practice
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provide a national consensus for the need of a nutritional assessment tool
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gain evidence based representation from the 250 Help the Hospices membership organisations.
Survey, 2007
The survey carried out by the Food and Nutrition Group at Help the Hospices in 2007 covered 240 hospices, with 76 (32%) responding. It was noted that:
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most (72%) did not have a nutrition group or a nutritional policy
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almost all respondents were aware of the NICE guidelines on nutrition in adults, but only a quarter had made changes based on the guidelines
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almost all hospices reported using a combination of nurses, doctors, dieticians and other professionals to offer nutritional advice
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most respondents (64%) felt equipped to offer nutritional advice
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most hospices (55%) did not have a dietician while some (32%) had access to one
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the majority did not provide teaching on nutritional issues
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many respondents asked for more teaching / training on nutrition and expressed the need for information sharing and advice.
The future
The Group’s work is continuing to expand. Plans include:
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working with the Help the Hospices National Audit Tools Group to prepare a nutrition audit tool that can be used by all hospices
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developing strategic policy work on nutrition practices in hospices
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preparing a special session on nutrition and a workshop at the Help the Hospices conference 2009 - Making Life Before Death Matter.
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continue to work with other organisations to increase awareness amongst other health and social care professionals
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Complete a 2009 Nutrition Survey.
