Patients Eat Better in Hospitals If Seated Comfortably

Focusing on correctly positioning and helping patients with their meal can make a difference to the amount that patients eat.

Patients admitted for any illness often eat poorly, and the reason might be the hospital mealtime environment, finds a new study.

When investigators observed 601 meals across 4 hospital wards during 2013, they found that mealtime interruptions did not significantly impact patients' meal intake, but how patients were positioned--ideally sitting up or out of bed--and whether they received mealtime assistance in a timely manner had impacts on meal intake.

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‘Mealtime interruptions did not significantly impact patients' meal intake, but how patients were positioned made the difference.’

"Hospital mealtimes can be busy and chaotic for staff and patients alike. This study suggests that focusing on correctly positioning and helping patients with their meal can make a difference to the amount that patients eat, which ultimately may help them on their way to a faster recovery," said Dr. Adrienne Young, lead author of the Journal of Advanced Nursing study.

Source-Eurekalert

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