A Liberally Improved Approach to Patient Feeding:
Computrition, Inc. Partners with the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center and Developes a New
Liberalized Diet Manual
Computrition, Inc. has partnered with the Nutrition
Services Team at the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center (UPMC) and revamped the pre-existing Liberalized
Diet Manual. Their mutual intent is to offer
theoretical knowledge and a clinical referential guide
to incorporating a liberalized diet approach into an
acute healthcare setting. This is a beneficial tool for
the industry, as it takes a dining concept initially
introduced in the long-term care sector approximately 30
years ago, and has been modified to continue serving
that market, while also providing a new solution to
healthcare foodservice administrators seeking a unique
approach to patient feeding.
The concept behind offering a liberalized diet is rather
straightforward in concept – feed patients what they
want, within reason, and they will eat better, ideally
contributing to a faster recovery. The liberalized diet
approach promotes a patient-centric, educated decision
making approach to feeding, however it is not a
"free-for-all." In likelihood and with the exception
of extreme diet orders, patients will not only have a
swifter recovery if they consume the foods they prefer,
but they will generally return to eating their normal
diet once they are discharged. For the typical 2-3 day
stay in a hospital, it is largely unlikely that keeping
the average patient on a strict therapeutic diet will
have anything but an ill-effect on both their overall
patient experience, as well as their return to health –
even if they go slightly over their medically regimented
daily sodium or fat intake, for example.
This was found to be accurate at UPMC when Foodservice
Director, Joyce Scott-Smith, MS, RD, LDN, along with her
team, incorporated a liberalized diet program to promote
patient-centered care in 2004. They found that through
this nutritional approach, they were able to improve
patient satisfaction, increase food consumption, and
educate patients about their therapeutic diets prior to
discharge.
In
reference to implementing a liberalized diet approach at
UPMC, Scott-Smith states,
"The positive outcomes of increased patient satisfaction
and nutritional intake make the patient controlled
liberalized diet program noteworthy. Beyond
that, creating a patient centered model of nutrition
care with this program has been a dynamic and rewarding
experience. Our UPMC Nutrition Team is pleased to
partner with Computrition in the next step of sharing
the concept with others."
UPMC collaborated with Computrition by taking the
pre-existing manual, developed by Ellyn Luros-Elson RD
and staff, and modified it to be applicable in both
long-term care as well as in acute care environments.
Computrition will manage the distribution of the manual, and
will provide UPMC with a percentage of the proceeds to
provide funding for nutrition-based educational
programming for the UPMC Nutrition Services team.
Luros-Elson adds, "Computrition prides itself on being
more than merely a provider of foodservice management
and patient-care automation. Continually striving to
offer a complete and innovative hospitality solution,
beyond technology, is one of the reasons we have
remained an industry leader for over the past 26 years. We
are passionate about our customers’ success, and thrive
on thinking outside the box to ensure we are at the
ready as new concepts arise."
A
copy of the Liberalized Diet Manual may be purchased by
clicking the following link:
Liberalized
Diet Manual order form.
About University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
Founded in 1893 as a Presbyterian Hospital, UPMC has
grown to encompass a 29-county health system with 19
hospitals and hundreds of other care sites. The
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is considered
the predominant health care provider in the region and a
renowned clinical and business innovator worldwide. Its
mission is
"To provide outstanding patient care to shape tomorrow's
health system through clinical innovation, biomedical
and health services research, and education." |
