Addressing Malnutrition in Hospital: Implementation of a Nutrition Pathway for Acute Care

Do you want to help patients eat better in hospital? Share your experience to help implement an approach to nutrition care that meets patients’ needs!

Open to: Patient partners in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley

Lead Organization or Department

Providence Health Care (PHC), Clinical Nutrition

Aim

Providence Health Care is embarking on a project to implement the Integrated Nutrition Pathway for Acute Care (INPAC), which has been developed by the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force. Research shows that in Canada, up to 45% of hospitalized patients are malnourished. The INPAC pathway is a standardized way to identify, diagnose and treat malnutrition in hospitals, but it needs to be adapted and feasible to use at Providence Health Care. We are looking for a patient partner to provide feedback on specific aspects of the pathway we have chosen to implement at PHC and inform us about how patients might be active participants in the pathway.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement (www.iap2.org). The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

• Experience in acute care as a patient or family member. Preference for experience with an admission greater than one week preferred or repeat admissions.
• Comfortable talking about what you experienced during hospital admission.
• Please note that this is not limited to those who may have experienced a nutrition-related issues or concern, as everyone admitted to the hospital eats!
• Patients should have previously attended a PVN orientation session and signed the Volunteer Agreement. If you have not attended an orientation but are interested, please contact the Engagement Leader directly to see if accommodations may be possible.

Logistics

• Vacancies: 2
• Participation will be from September 2017 through March 2018.
• Meetings will likely be on a monthly basis, schedule to be determined.

Reimbursement

Expenses related to travel (i.e. transit, parking up to $18/day, approved mileage) to attend the session will be reimbursed by Providence Health Care.

Background

This opportunity is part of a two year project (implementation and then evaluation). We will be implementing components of the INPAC pathway which include nutrition screening (asking questions about appetite and weight loss), nutrition assessment (more detailed questions and physical assessment), and approaches to meal times, monitoring, hospital diets and other nutrition interventions. We see a patient or family member as key partner. We have a group of 5 dietitians initiating this project but we will be engaging with other health care practitioners and services to best translate the pathway to our context at Providence Health Care. For more information about INPAC, please visit: http://nutritioncareincanada.ca/inpac

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Karen Estrin
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Lower Mainland & Sunshine Coast
604.668.8245
kestrin@bcpsqc.ca