Utilising a multidisciplinary team model of care to improve patients mealtime satisfaction in a subacute setting

Ms Alice Doring1, Ms Alita Rushton1, Mrs Nicci Muggeridge1, Mrs Kristen Demedio1, Mrs Rebecca Moore1

1Qld Health (The Prince Charles Hospital), Brisbane, Australia

The psychosocial and physical environment of a hospital dining room plays an important part in patient’s rehabilitation and mealtime experiences. Communal dining and mealtime assistance have been shown to improve rehabilitation outcomes and mealtime satisfaction. This project aims to investigate attendance, patient’s satisfaction and perceived importance of mealtimes pre-and-post implementation. Implementation involved developing a multidisciplinary model of care to enable communal dining room with decentralized point of service foodservice.

Patient attendance data was obtained through lunch service mealtime observations on six days over a three-week period. Patients were engaged via patient satisfaction surveys pre (N=33) and post (N=15) implementation. This survey assessed satisfaction with mealtime assistance provided, physical environment, overall experience and perceived value of mealtimes from patients and staff.

Dining Room attendance increased by 29% post implementation (27% pre, 56% post). Survey results displayed overall mealtime satisfaction post implementation was higher for patients attending the dining room than those who ate at bedside (92%, 81% respectively). Satisfaction with level of assistance increased post implementation, and showed complete positivity for patients in the dining room (90 to 100% for dining room attendees, and 88 to 90% for bedside attendees). A slight improvement was noted in physical environment satisfaction for patients both in the dining room and at bedside (91 to 93%, 89 to 90% respectively). Interestingly, while dining room patients value of mealtimes decreased post intervention (11%), perception of staff’s mealtime value increased for both patients in the dining room and at their bedside (1%, 12%).

Implementation of a communal dining room with decentralised foodservice provision facilitated by a multidisciplinary team model of care contributes to patient’s rehabilitation experience across four domains. Additionally, the developed multidisciplinary model of care increased dining room attendance and created further opportunity to explore the impact of this on therapy and social interaction.


Biography: To be confirmed

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