Dietitians in the South East have received funding from the HSE’s Spark Innovation Programme to produce short education videos on key nutrition topics for ageing well.
The Spark Innovation Programme is a frontline, staff-led initiative that promotes, supports, and recognises innovation in healthcare staff. The successful proposal to Spark was made by Lorna King (clinical specialist dietitian), Emma Grant (senior dietitian), and Aideen McGuinness (senior dietitian), who are working with respective HSE Integrated Care Programme for Older Persons (ICPOP) teams in South Tipperary, Waterford, and Wexford and specialise in nutrition for the older person.
Focus groups with older people and surveys from healthcare professionals identified that timely access to information was important for the older person, and that healthcare professionals wanted to have evidence-based and practical resources that they could provide.
The project explored whether first-line nutrition information in short video format could work in combination with the more standard approach (eg, information booklets), and improve communication to both older people and health care professionals on key nutrition topics that support healthy ageing.
Ms King, Ms Grant, and Ms McGuinness said their goal was that these videos would serve as an “initial step” in addressing the nutrition concerns of the older person. They also emphasised that the information in the videos was not only evidence-based, but also easily accessible, understandable, and practical.
The two videos that have been produced to date are ‘Sarcopenia and Nutrition’ and ‘Malnutrition and the Older Person’. Each video is professionally designed and can be used in one-to-one appointments, group sessions, or given to a family member. The videos could also be looked at while in a waiting area before an appointment, utilised by the HSE’s ICPOP locally, and by service users and their families and/or carers.
The videos, called ‘Nutrition for Ageing Well’, are currently accessible at: www.youtube.com/@Nutritionforageingwell.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.