Nutrition & Hydration Week 2014 (17-23 March 2014) will see nationwide action across social and health care settings to raise awareness and improve understanding of the vital importance of good nutrition and hydration – an initiative that is attracting worldwide support and praise.
Worldwide Afternoon Tea
The focal national event and highlight of the week will be a Worldwide Afternoon Tea on Wednesday 19 March. Service providers in both health and social care settings are invited to share Afternoon Tea with those entrusted to their care, no matter where they care for them, demonstrating a united effort and commitment to improving nutrition and hydration.
The three leading organisations of Nutrition & Hydration Week 2014 – Patient Safety First (PSF), Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) and National Association of Care Catering (NACC) – are urging social and health care providers to serve afternoon tea to service users and visitors where appropriate.
Afternoon Tea has been chosen as a key focal point of the Week to demonstrate how this simple meal occasion is ideal for promoting and improving nutrition and hydration. As well as offering a number of nutritional benefits, it can also be easily adapted to a wide variety of social and health care settings. For example, it can take place in care homes, on community meals rounds, in day care settings, at Luncheon Clubs, during community support worker visits, and within NHS settings such as on hospital wards, cafés and day rooms.
Three meals and two snacks a day
From a nutrition and hydration perspective, Afternoon Tea clearly supports the ‘three meals and two snacks a day’ message, it will help with boosting calorific intake if required, and it can be adapted for all groups, including those with specific dietary needs, texture modification and eating problems.
On top of this, Afternoon Tea also serves a vital social and emotional role that is necessary for overall wellbeing. It enables those in social and health care settings, who may otherwise be isolated, to interact with staff, visitors, and fellow residents, service users or patients.
Neel Radia NACC Chair commented: “Everybody focuses on mealtimes when it comes to nutrition and hydration, but a little food and often is the key for older people. The message of three meals and two snacks a day is embraced by focusing on a food event outside of a main meal time. Afternoon tea is ideal as it does fit into every care situation, be it in residential homes, day care, or in the community through meal services and community support. It also adds an important social dimension for service users. We urge everyone to get involved, even if afternoon tea is only shared with one person.”
Improving the quality of life
The aim of the Nutrition & Hydration Week 2014 is to illustrate how, by making changes to eating and drinking habits, people can improve their quality of life. The campaign will benefit professionals and staff within social and healthcare settings by showing them the preventative role they can play in catalysing a reduction in malnutrition-related illnesses that often require complex treatments, prolong recovery periods, delay hospital discharges and increase NHS costs.
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