Cwm Taf dietitians train staff in care homes on nutritional needs for residents
Dietitians are now providing a training service to staff who work in care homes in the Cwm Taf area to ensure that residents are receiving the correct nutrition and hydration for their needs.
The service provided by dietitians in Cwm Taf has been a huge success. Every member of staff who has undergone training has reported improvements in their confidence and is able to calculate the *malnutrition score more accurately.
There has also been an increase of 35% in referrals to a dietitian, as staff know what signs to look for with hydration and malnutrition, this means that patients are being seen in a timelier manner, and the duration of treatment that person needs has halved.
Specialist dietitian Amy Evans said: “I am very proud to lead on this innovative service. For me personally, I enjoy developing a close working relationship with care home staff by providing training and support in order to improve the nutritional care of residents and improve their mealtime experience within the care home.
Hear about our enhanced dietetic service for care homes within @CwmTaf from @amy_hargreaves1
“The incidence of residents at high risk malnutrition has decreased in intervention care homes by 9%. Incidence was 29% at initial scoping and reduced to 20% following dietetic intervention. This is fantastic news.”
A member of staff who received training at one of the care homes said: “The training has been very beneficial, it has made me realise how important it is for the residents’ health for us to correctly document the amount of food and drink that the residents consume.”
*Each individual resident in a care home have a malnutrition risk score, if the score is 2 or more, they are deemed at high risk of malnutrition, which will trigger a referral into the dietetic department. Staff have been trained in the care homes in order to improve the accuracy in completing this malnutrition tool.
