• Acceptability of therapeutic diets among patients in Capricorn district’s Hospitals, Limpopo province.
Research questions
• How do the patients respond towards the therapeutic diets given to them during their hospital stay?
• Are patients satisfied with the therapeutic diets being provided to them based on the various nutrition related conditions?
Aim
• To evaluate the satisfaction of therapeutic diets among the patients in Capricorn hospitals
Objectives
• To determine the availability of therapeutic diets.
• To determine if therapeutic menus are analyzed.
• To determine if therapeutic menus are acceptable to the clients served or patients.
• To determine if the portions size control of therapeutic diets is properly practiced in the …show more content…
It forms part of the treatment of a medical condition and are generally prescribed by a physician and planned by a dietician. A therapeutic diet is commonly an adaptation of a regular diet. It is modified or tailored to fit the nutrition needs of a specific individual. Therapeutic diets are altered for nutrients, texture, food allergies or food intolerances.
Therapeutic diets are special diets chosen for people with certain medical conditions. A therapeutic diet is used to support a medical condition from a nutritional perspective. Changes in diet can help or even relieve some medical conditions. Therapeutic diets are typically high in fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy products, and are lower in fat, sugar, and foods that are processed. Therapeutic diets succeed the guidelines set out by the United States Department of Agriculture for healthy diets. (Lauren Morgan)
There are types of therapeutic diets used in hospitals namely, a clear fluid diet which includes minimum residue fluids that can be seen through. Full liquid diet Includes fluids that are creamy and high fiber diet which is prescribed in the prevention or treatment of a number of digestive diseases, cardiac related diseases, and metabolic …show more content…
Undernutrition is one of the common reasons why therapeutic diets are introduced in hospitals. Undernutrition is a deficiency of calories or of one or more essential nutrients. Undernutrition is a common problem world-wide among hospital inpatients, usually due to inadequate intake of food and drink (Council of Europe, 2003; Edington, Kon, & Martyn, 1996; McWhirter & Pennington, 1994).
Dietary intake and food acceptability
Dietary intake in hospital depends upon acceptability of the available food (Sahin, Demir, Aycicek, & Cihangiroglu, 2007). Food acceptability can only be assessed by approaching the patients themselves (Ferguson, Capra, Bauer, & Banks, 2001). Poor nutritional control, poor management of the food service and wards, and inappropriate staff attitudes were another area of dissatisfaction. Participants had often received foods inappropriate for their medical condition and none had seen a dietician. Diabetics might be served rice every day, while patients on dialysis often received too much salt and fat. Ward