PP273 - MEASURING WHAT MATTERS: CO-DESIGNING QUALITY INDICATORS FOR HOSPITAL NUTRITION AND FOOD SERVICES
PP273
MEASURING WHAT MATTERS: CO-DESIGNING QUALITY INDICATORS FOR HOSPITAL NUTRITION AND FOOD SERVICES
A. M. Young1,1,2,2,*, S. Mackay1,2,3, A. Christoffersen1,2,4, D. Trevor2, H. Olufson1,5,6, M. Banks2
1The University of Queensland, 2Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, 3The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, 4Champion Health Agency, Mount Coolum, 5Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Services, 6Metro North Health, Brisbane, Australia
Rationale: Although international bodies recognise nutrition as a core component of safe, people‑centred care, there is little global consensus on how the quality of hospital nutrition and food services should be measured. Co‑designed, multi‑stakeholder consensus approaches are increasingly recommended to define meaningful quality indicators, yet are rarely applied to hospital nutrition and food services. This study aimed to establish consensus on quality indicators using a co-designed research process.
Methods: Thirteen focus groups were conducted with Australian adult and paediatric consumers (n=69), food service staff (n=24), dietitians (n=64) and other multidisciplinary health workers (n=33), with Nominal Group Technique used to generate and prioritise indicators of high quality nutrition and food services. A three-round eDelphi survey was conducted (n=166) to seek consensus on quality indicators recommended for measurement. Consumer researchers were core memebrs of the research team, developing participant materials, co-facilitating focus groups and contributing to data analysis and interpretation.
Results: We identified 73 quality indicators as “essential" for measuring hospital nutrition and food services, and consensus was reached on ten process and outcome indicators: meal quality, menu choice, meal ordering, diet and meal accuracy, mealtime readiness, mealtime environment, malnutrition care, person-centred nutrition care, nutrient intake, and change in nutritional status.
Conclusion: A dietitian-consumer research partnership co-produced a set of quality indicators for hospital nutrition and food services that reflect priorities of patients and health professionals, providing a framework for "measuring what matters". Future research will test the feasibility of measuring these indicators and using them to drive collaborative improvements in service delivery.
Disclosure of Interest: None declared