Poster Presentation Inaugural Victorian Integrated Cancer Services Conference 2013

Nutrition Strategy: take home meals (#90)

Imran Hanif 1 , Trish Dito 1 , Mary Anne Silvers 1
  1. Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Vic, Australia

Cancer treatment can lead to patients experiencing a range of nutrition related symptoms. Symptoms include nausea, taste changes, dry mouth, changes in taste and smell, fatigue, all of which can interfere with dietary intake. To minimise the side effects of chemotherapy treatment, nutrition intervention strategies including dietary counselling, food fortification and oral supplements are implemented. To complement these strategies Monash Cancer Centre, Moorabbin has introduced a take home meal service. A survey of patients attending the chemotherapy day unit revealed that 45% of respondents ate less after treatment with the most common reasons been too tired to prepare, cook and eat a meal. Dietetics, Central Production Kitchen, Kingston and Monash Cancer Centre site worked collaboratively to implement a high quality take home meal service. Eleven different complete frozen meals are available to meet the diverse needs e.g. cultural, dietary of our patient population. Meal choices include roasts, a vegetarian choice, pasta and rice dishes such as spaghetti bolognaise, tandoori chicken. Each dish has been nutritionally analysed and depending on the dish per serve provides between 14 gm to 67 gm protein and 1250KJ and 4480KJ. All meals are labelled with ingredients, use by date, heating instructions and come with condiments and cutlery. These frozen meals can be purchased from a vending machine located in close proximity to the oncology treatment areas. Feedback to date has been very positive. Formal evaluation of this pilot will be undertaken in 3 months. This proactive nutrition initiative supports patients through their cancer treatment journey by making available nutritious meals that only require heating. This initiative is an example of integrated supportive patient centred care.