Authors: (including presenting author): :
Lam MK
Affiliation: :
Speech Therapy Department, Pok Oi Hospital
Keyword 1: :
Poor oral intake
Keyword 2: :
Feeding disorders
Keyword 5: :
Feeding management
Introduction: :
Elderly with dementia at different stages would have different swallowing problems or feeding behaviors. The more advanced the dementia, the more common to see feeding problem on these patients, resulting in poor oral intake, weight loss, malnutrition or even tube feeding. While nutrition can be delivered via a feeding tube, insertion of feeding tube often brings discomfort, pain or restraints to patients. On the other hand, corresponding food choices or flexibility in serving food in hospitals are rather restricted. Mills et al. (2018) suggested that provision of fortified foods and snacks may lead to higher rates of food consumption and patient's satisfaction in hospitalized patients. Therefore, we would like to enhance the service management of feeding in patients with feeding disorders in POH.
Objectives: :
Feed Orally On Demand (FOOD) Program is a program to provide extra food choices (non-hospital food) to patients recruited in order to:
-To improve patient’s quality of life on eating
-To safeguard patient’s autonomy on food choice
-To promote oral intake
-To enhance the role of caregivers in feeding management
Methodology: :
FOOD Program was implemented in 1 medical convalescent ward and 3 medical acute wards in POH. Patients i) who mainly demonstrated feeding disorders with persistently poor oral intake, ii) whose swallowing function was relatively preserved would be the targeted patients. Suitable patients were recruited to FOOD program after ST assessment and CMO endorsement. Suitable food items based on patient’s swallowing ability was distributed to patients after recruitment. Average oral intake, calories intake and protein intake 3 days before and 3 days after recruitment to the program were recorded for analysis.
Result & Outcome: :
A total of 70 patients were recruited to FOOD program from Dec 2020 to Sept 2025. Mean age of the patients recruited were 87.8 years old. About 77% of the patients were female. Paired Samples T-tests were performed. It was found that patient's oral intake (p < .05), calories intake (p < .05) and protein intake (p < .05) after FOOD Program were found to be statistically significantly improved than before recruiting to the program. Regarding patient’s destination, 70% of them were successfully discharged while 25.7% were passed away.
