For Rest Homes
MENU AUDITS Dietitians at Anglesea works with rest homes in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland undertaking menu audits and offering advice on menu composition. Menu audits are recommended every two years and are undertaken using the Dietitians NZ audit tool. A questionnaire is sent to the rest home, and when completed, is returned along with a copy of the menus to be audited. The audit report is undertaken, and returned to the rest home with comments and recommendations. Identification of the malnourished should be undertaken by nutrition screening, by the rest home, on admission and at regular intervals thereafter. Dietitians at Anglesea can assist with helping you choose the best, simplest and most accurate screening tool for your rest home. Nutrition screening identifies individuals who are malnourished or "at risk", enabling immediate preventative action to be undertaken. INDIVIDUAL CONSULTATIONS Dietitians at Anglesea are also available in the Waikato to see individual residents of rest homes and private hospitals on request, for any nutritional assessments, modifications to an individual's diet and Special Authority applications (following assessment and first line changes to the diet).
The best option for treating malnutrition is to enhance normal eating and drinking, and advice on how to do this is given for a referred individual after an assessment by the dietitian. Appetite and food intake often decline with ageing, but this can result in the loss of lean skeletal muscle which is then associated with reductions in muscle function, bone mass, cognitive function, slow wound healing and recovery from surgery and consequentially an increase in both morbidity and mortality. Poor wound healing can result in expensive treatments, (in both product and staff time costs), whereas prevention of any breakdown of the skin can be easily achieved through specific nutritional advice using inexpensive supplements and foods. Once there is a pressure ulcer, special products can be recommended and requested by the dietitian to assist this wound healing, and this is extremely successful. Any residents who are enterally fed should be reviewed at regular intervals to ensure the quantity and quality of the product used remains appropriate. A Registered Dietitian is the best person to do this. Inservice education to rest homes in the Waikato is also available, on topics such as Nutrition and Hydration, Diabetes, and general Nutrition Requirements for the Elderly." For further information on any of the above ................... contact us hereNUTRITION SCREENING
ENTERAL FEEDING
INSERVICE EDUCATION