Nutrition Screening in Home Health, Home Care and Supportive Living

Date: Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Time: 12:00 - 13:00 ET

Speakers: Leila Goharian, MSc. RD. CDE., Community Home Health Care Dietitian, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority; Jaya Ramamurthy, MSc. RD., Consulting Dietitian, Supportive Living Program, Alberta Health Services

To register, CLICK HERE.

Canadian healthcare system currently focuses on transitioning patients from hospital to home. As health care shifts towards the home setting, practices to detect, prevent and treat malnutrition are of increasing importance. The prevalence of malnutrition living in the community (home and supportive living) clients is well established. Therefore, it stands to reason then that screening by clinicians and intervention by an RD in the home situation can prevent severe malnutrition, decrease readmissions and complexity of care.

The first presentation will take you on the Vancouver Community Health Centres’ journey of successfully implementing a nutrition screening tool across six centres. We will describe the research conducted, benefits of knowledge translation, the pros and cons of our model and challenges with sustainability. The second presentation will take you through the selection and development of a feasible model for screening in the Alberta Health System home care and supportive living services. Two screening algorithms established around a nutrition care protocol will be described and how they have been implemented.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Summarize the prevalence of malnutrition in home care/supportive care settings.
  2. Identify Canadian models of nutrition risk screening in these settings with respect to development and acceptance to promote feasibility and sustainability.
  3. Describe the success and challenges experienced in putting these models into practice and their impact on practice.

About the Speaker:

Leila Goharian is a Community Home Health/Care Dietitian at Vancouver Coastal Health Authority in British Columbia. She is a member of the Primary Care working group of the Community Malnutrition Task Force. Subsequent to completing her undergraduate Dietetics degree at the University of British Columbia, she concluded her Dietetics internship at the Vancouver Island Health Authority.  After working for several years in Vancouver and attaining her CNSC, she ventured off as an expatriate to Saudi Arabia to work as sole charge RD of a 50 bed medical/surgical ICU. During her time there, she was quickly promoted to being the dedicated RD for the Saudi Royal Family and registered fitness leader. Following 10 years of working abroad including Dubai, she finally returned to her hometown of Vancouver. There, she completed her Masters in Human Services & Health Care Administration and obtained her Certification as a Diabetes Educator. Leila is dedicated to improving patient health and feels passionately that through research, change is achievable.

Jaya Ramamurthy is a registered dietitian employed with Alberta Health Services within the Supportive Living Program. She has completed Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics from India and started dietetic profession in a teaching hospital at Chennai, India. Migrated to Canada and completed a refresher course and dietetic internship at the University of Alberta to start her dietitian career in Edmonton, Alberta. Jaya has worked in different areas and possesses experience both in acute care and community care. She has a passion for geriatric nutrition and has been involved with research projects and malnutrition initiatives both in Edmonton Zone and provincially.

To register, CLICK HERE.


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