Nutrition and Hydration

This half day course is essential for all staff to gain an understanding of good eating and drinking habits as well as their benefits for different people’s medical needs.

Course Length. 3.5 hours

Introduction

Nutrition is the process of taking in nutrients from food, relevant to our various dietary needs. Our bodies need certain nutrients for continued growth, cell repair and other metabolic processes throughout life, and we thus need to be extremely aware of what to include in our diets.

To be able to make informed decisions regarding our nutritional needs, it’s important to understand the basic principles behind nutrition, in which water and hydration also play a role. Various guides and tools may be used to help ensure we get the nutritional balance and support needed, including the Eatwell Guide and Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST), both of which will be discussed in this course.

Course Contents

Facts & Figures
Malnutrition in care settings
Balancing a diet
Macronutrients and Micronutrients
Identifying poor nutrition
Effects of poor nutrition & hydration
Promoting adequate nutrition and hydration
Nutritional screening including MUST Tool
Potential condition related issues with eating (inc sensory issues and dementia)
Dysphagia

Course Outcomes

Successful completion of this training course will result in the award of a CPD accredited certificate covering all aspects of the above course contents.