Better Together – Improving Parent / Carer access to food when their child is in hospital
Clare Klimes1, Louise O’Shannassy1, Amitha Mather2 1Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Randwick and Westmead, NSW, Australia2HealthShare NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Abstract
Background
There are over 56,000 admissions every year within the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network (SCHN). During the admission, parents stay alongside their child providing emotional support and comfort. They are also a key communication link between the child and clinicians. Food service is an important component of hospital experience and nutritional requirements for children differ from adults due to constant changes in their growth and development needs. Meals and eating should be a non-threatening, relaxed and familiar part of the admission.
During a process to develop a new model of care for food service delivery at SCHN consumers identified that access to food for parents and carers was a barrier for them during the inpatient stay.
Method
Current and past patients and their carers were invited to participate in either a semi-structured interview or anonymous survey to share their experience of mealtimes in hospital. Participants were recruited via printed flyers circulated on the inpatient meal tray and displayed on the ward kitchens, as well as via social media.
Results
Twenty-six carers consented to participate in interviews. The majority of carers, 70% (n=18/26) interviewed indicated that they wanted better access to food whilst caring for their child in hospital. Issues impacting carer access to food included limited access to retail food offerings, inconsistent awareness and access to food preparation and storage facilities and limited hospital funded carer meals. Anonymous surveys were completed by an additional 36 carers, with 54% (n=19/36) stating they currently don’t have adequate access to food for themselves when in hospital.
Discussion
Parents and carers are an extension of the paediatric inpatient and consideration should be given to their needs when designing family centered food service models of care for paediatric inpatients. Opportunity exists to improve the access to food for carers and enhance the inpatient experience.
Biography
Clare is an accredited practising dietitian and Head of Department Nutrition and Dietetics at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead. As a paediatric dietitian Clare is passionate about family centred care and the importance of good nutrition for her patients and their families.