Undernutrition is a serious health problem among Dutch elderly. On average, one in three to five elderly people in hospitals, nursing homes and home care is undernourished (Kruizenga et al., 2016). The consequences of undernutrition can be severe: less resistance to disease, an increased risk of complications and a longer recovery. Consequently, undernutrition causes additional healthcare costs and is associated with a lower quality of life. Eating enough protein can prevent many problems. Cater with Care® developed a varied range of tasty and effective protein-enriched food to tackle undernutrition.
Public-private cooperation
In 2012, the Nutrition and Healthcare Alliance brought together a unique consortium of healthcare and knowledge institutions and companies in Cater with Care®. Together they worked on innovation in care on the theme of undernutrition. The consortium consisted of the Nutrition and Healthcare Alliance, Gelderse Vallei Hospital, Wageningen University & Research, Carezzo, Sodexo, Kraft-Heinz, NIZO and the Veal Promotion Foundation. The project was partly enabled by ERDF, European Regional Development Fund.
Tasty protein-enriched food for healthcare
The consortium developed tasty protein-enriched variants of regular foods, such as juices, soups and desserts. These can replace the low-protein products from the standard nutritional offer for the elderly during hospitalization or other care institutions. When developing the products, the wishes and needs of the elderly, patients and healthcare professionals have been taken into account. The developed nutrition fit into the usual diet of the elder population, so that people do not have to eat or drink more or differently than they are used to. This makes it easier for them to get enough protein.
Research
The effectiveness of the food products and the daily menu has been studied in the Gelderse Vallei Hospital and Opella. In this research, the effect on nutritional intake and quality of life and nutritional status have been measured, among others. The protein-enriched products can help the elderly and patients to achieve the recommended protein intake. The research results have been published in the thesis
Cater with Care. Impact of protein enriched foods and drinks for elderly people (
Beelen, 2016).
Implementation of results
The products are now on the menu in many hospitals and also in other healthcare institutions, such as rehabilitation centres and nursing homes. The Nutrition and Healthcare Alliance is also a partner in the
Partner Network Malnutrition for the Elderly, set up by the knowledge institute
Kenniscentrum Malnutrition. Through this collaboration, research results are shared to tackle malnutrition.
For better health
