Small portions, sensitively served can improve a patient's appetite

We are extremely grateful to TR from Cardiff for writing to us urging staff to present food attractively to patients who need help to eat. She believes that small portions should be offered with the option to go back for more if still hungry, with each item clearly identifiable and looking appetising.

She also urges anyone who is asked to feed a patients NOT to rush them.

TR

Note from Jill :

Many people, who are unable to feed themselves, need to eat at a slower pace. This maybe because they have other medical issues or because they naturally eat more slowly.

If someone simply doesn't feel they have the time to feed someone in a way that is appropriate to that patient, this should be considered a huge issue and ways should be sought to get around the problem.

When I(Jill) trained as a nurse many years ago, we had a session when the students were asked to feed each other. Most of us found it a ghastly experience, some even choked, especially when they were given food they would never choose themselves. As it was a session within the school, it wasn't a meal time, so some people were not hungry. Through that 'what if it was you' session, we realised how awful it must be to be fed when, like many people it that situation, you no longer have the ability to tell someone you simply don't want anything.

LIke so many issues, there is normally a way around the problem. Please see other ideas in this section of the site as many hospitals now encourage relatives and volunteers to come in at mealtimes to help patients to eat. Some hospitals have devised some imaginative ways of making mealtimes much more enjoyable.