OT role in Nutrition

Today I was able to participate in a lecture that provided me with an opportunity to see the importance of nutrition in its relation to patient care and therapy intervention. One startling statistic that was addressed over the course of this lecture was that 1 in 2 older adults is malnourished. That is half of all of these individuals that are entering the hospital. Patient nourishment is important for many aspects of an individual's hospital stay including wound healing and prevention of muscle wasting over the course of their stay. This is not to mention the significant nutrition needed to sustain the increased metabolism of the stressed body and needs of the body as it goes into rehabilitation. As the importance of nutrition in an older adults hospital stay was revealed, the follow up question is what does this mean for me as an occupational therapist. One possible intervention that could take place to address the issue of nutrition is a support group and cooking class for widowed individuals. In class, we discussed that one difficulty in those older adults who are living alone is that they do not want to cook an entire nutritious meal just for one person. A cooking group with these individuals could address the need for community as well as proper encouragement to sustain proper nutrition. Another option for intervention to address nutritional needs is one on one collaboration in a home health setting to prepare a meal. This could provide an opportunity to not only educate the client on nutritional needs but also a caregiver. During this intervention, it also may be a good time to include a dietician to give specific nutritional instructions to the individual. Overall it seems that the biggest component to addressing the malnutrition issue in older adults is awareness. It is important for us to be advocates for our client's not only in education to them but other healthcare professionals.

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