Gauging food and nutritional care quality in hospitals

Abstract

BackgroundFood and nutritional care quality must be assessed and scored, so as to improve health institution efficacy. This study aimed to detect and compare actions related to food and nutritional care quality in public and private hospitals.MethodsInvestigation of the Hospital Food and Nutrition Service (HFNS) of 37 hospitals by means of structured interviews assessing two quality control corpora, namely nutritional care quality (NCQ) and hospital food service quality (FSQ). HFNS was also evaluated with respect to human resources per hospital bed and per produced meal.ResultsComparison between public and private institutions revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the number of hospital beds per HFNS staff member (p = 0.02) and per dietitian (p < 0.01). The mean compliance with NCQ criteria in public and private institutions was 51.8% and 41.6%, respectively. The percentage of public and private health institutions in conformity with FSQ criteria was 42.4% and 49.1%, respectively. Most of the actions comprising each corpus, NCQ and FSQ, varied considerably between the two types of institution. NCQ was positively influenced by hospital type (general) and presence of a clinical dietitian. FSQ was affected by institution size: large and medium-sized hospitals were significantly better than small ones.ConclusionsFood and nutritional care in hospital is still incipient, and actions concerning both nutritional care and food service take place on an irregular basis. It is clear that the design of food and nutritional care in hospital indicators is mandatory, and that guidelines for the development of actions as well as qualification and assessment of nutritional care are urgent.

Barriers to food intake in acute care hospitals: a report of the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force

“…It is common knowledge that many patients are admitted to hospital in malnourished states and that poor food intake during hospitalisation exacerbates this condition, slowing recovery and affecting patient‐related outcomes. However, food and meal services are generally undervalued in patient care and, if we are to change the outcomes associated with malnutrition in the hospital setting, we need to change the nutrition care culture, including the importance of mealtimes to the recovery of patients. One mechanism for starting the change process is by identifying areas for quality improvements based on the patient's perspective.…”

Gauging Food and Nutritional Care Quality in Hospitals

“…However, it is noteworthy that an array of conditions should also exist, so that this type of care can be improved [37,41]. Professional qualification, institutional policies for the sector, nutritional care quality programmes such as accreditation and institutional evaluation [42], and sufficient number of professionals [34] can better qualify food and nutritional care in hospitals. The more complex structure of general hospitals favors NCQ.…”

Alimentação Hospitalar: Elementos Para a Construção De Iniciativas Humanizadoras

“…Esta característica foi identificada, preliminarmente, em um estudo multicêntrico. 29 Os grupos focais seguiram a metodologia proposta por Sobal. 28 …”