2025 marks the 25th anniversary of our pioneering Community Dietitians Team - a unique and groundbreaking partnership that set the national standard for dietitians working with care homes.
Over the years, this initiative has empowered care home staff with the knowledge and tools needed to improve residents' nutrition, reduce undernutrition, and enhance overall health outcomes.
To celebrate this milestone and in recognition of Nutrition and Hydration Week last week, the team recently organised a series of conferences across County Durham and Darlington.
Partnering with the Care Academy Durham, these events provided local care home staff with vital training on preventing undernutrition and ensuring safe, effective nutrition care for residents.
The Importance of Nutrition and Hydration in Older Adults
Proper nutrition and hydration are essential for the health and wellbeing of residents in care home for older people.
Our Community Dietitians work closely with local care homes, equipping staff with the skills and knowledge necessary to improve residents' safety, nutrition, and hydration.
Thanks to this strong partnership, our region now boasts some of the lowest undernutrition, well below the national average.
The Impact of the Community Dietitians Team
Before the introduction of this partnership, care homes faced significant challenges in addressing undernutrition, including:
- Limited nutrition guidance for care homes
- Reliance on supplements as the primary treatment for undernutrition
- Lack of food-based treatment approaches
- Inconsistent nutritional screening for undernutrition
- No structured dietitian-led training for care home staff
Undernutrition can affect health and wellbeing of older adults, resulting in increased hospital admissions, and long-term health problems.
