Success Stories

Dietetic Interns lead Malnutrition Awareness Week 2022 at Hamilton Health Sciences

This year at Hamilton Health Sciences, a group of dietetic interns worked to design Canadian Malnutrition Awareness Week, which took place October 3^rd - 7^th, as part of their population health rotation. The theme for Canadian Malnutrition Awareness Week for 2022 was “Malnutrition Care for All.” Using webinars, educational articles, interactive games, and positive interactions on wards and in staff areas, the interns educated healthcare professionals to understand the importance of identifying and treating malnutrition and to educate on the importance of nutrition related to a patient’s health outcomes.

Highlights from Malnutrition Awareness Week at Hamilton Health Sciences Include:

-Webinars:

• Juravinski Hospital (JH): The webinar “Advocating for Nutrition: Every Voice Matters” was previewed at JH. This event was a lunch and learn opportunity for registered dietitians, nutrition services staff, dietetic interns, and speech language pathologists. A total of 21 individuals attended this event.
• McMaster University Medical Center (MUMC): “Food insecurity for Children in Canada: A stark reality” was presented at MUMC for registered dietitians, nutrition services staff, and dietetic interns. A total of 10 individuals attended this event.

-Travelling Caravans:

• Hamilton General Hospital (HGH): Travelling caravans which contained malnutrition awareness infographics from the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force (CMTF) website, the INPAC pathway sheet, pens with the Canadian Nutrition Screen Tool (CNST) questions and steps on how to input the screening into the Epic, and snacks were provided to wards at Hamilton General Hospital. A total of 17 wards were visited, with 159 interactions with various staff members. Additionally, approximately 140 CNST pens with instructions were given out and 226 snacks were provided.
• MUMC: Travelling Caravans containing malnutrition awareness infographics from the CMTF website, STRONGkids infographic made by interns, INPAC pathways sheet, pens with the Pediatric Nutritional Screening Tool questions and steps to input them into Epic, and snacks were provided to 4 wards. During the traveling caravans a total of 39 interactions occurred, with 60 pens left for the wards, and 50 snacks given out.

-Information Booth & Game:

• Booths were held at HGH and JH inside the cafeterias at these locations. The booths contained various infographics, online trivia raffle prizes, snacks, plinko game, and prizes. For staff to win a prize, they must answer a nutrition-related question and then can play plinko for a chance to win. At HGH 70 individuals participated with 46% knowing it was Canadian Malnutrition Awareness Week from advertising which was done by interns and preceptors. Additionally, 91 interactions were had at JH with 63% of individuals knowing it was Canadian Malnutrition Awareness Week.

-Food Service Presentations:

• A presentation by Sarah Clarke, Abbott representative, was given to nutrition associates at JH and HGH. This presentation highlighted the importance of nutrition services role, the impacts malnutrition can have on a patient’s outcome, and the importance of providing patients with the correct food items. A total of 40 individuals attended at JH and 43 individuals attended at HGH.

-General Nutrition Patient Hand Outs:

• Nutrition handouts were provided to patients at HGH and JH. These handouts were designed by the dietetic interns and provided patients with general nutrition information to “set themselves up for a successful mealtime;” information included the eating well plate, making water the drink of choice, and other actions that can be taken to improve mealtime. A total of 800 hands outs were dispersed between the 2 locations.

-Online Malnutrition Trivia:

• The interns designed an online malnutrition awareness trivia using information from the CMTF malnutrition infographics for 2022. The trivia included 10 questions about both the adult and pediatric populations. Prior to submitting the quiz, individuals had to rate how confident they felt about identifying malnutrition in their patients: 18.4% felt very confident, 40.7% felt fairly confident, and 30.8% felt neutral. After submitting the trivia, staff members were emailed their quiz results with an explanation for each question to help educate them further. Over 300 staff members completed this quiz and were entered to win 1 of 6 prizes.

-Articles:

• The interns wrote 4 articles which were published for staff to read. The articles are titled, “The Purpose of the Subjective Global Assessment,” “Malnutrition, the $2 Billion Dollar Issue in Canadian Hospitals,” “Nutrition Screening: Why is it important,” and “Malnutrition and the Inter-Professional Health Team.”
• The interns worked with the PR department to aid in the development of the article “Introducing a Dietetic Assistant.” This article highlights the importance of nutrition in the patient’s health outcomes and the roles of dietitians and dietetic assistants in the care team.

We, the dietetic interns, feel that we had many successful interactions and have increased malnutrition awareness at Hamilton Health Sciences. As a group, we could not have asked for a more successful week and have learned a lot over the last 10 weeks.

Sincerely,

The Dietetic Interns

Joanna Kapuscinski, Maria Lopez, Eleni Papadakis, & Samantha Martins