Nutrition, older people and the end of life

Older patients are at increased risk of malnutrition, resulting in higher mortality and morbidity. It is important to address nutritional need early in order to prevent or mitigate these adverse outcomes. Decisions about nutrition and hydration for older people presenting with acute illness or evolving multiple long-term conditions present great difficulty to all involved. Clinicians are more likely to encounter such situations as the population of older people with frailty syndromes expands. The clinical evidence base to guide such decisions is sparse and largely unhelpful. Clinicians must recognise their role in these difficult decisions. In addition to familiarity with the clinical evidence base, they must be fully informed of the legal, professional and moral context of the decisions with which they are faced. Responsible clinicians have a professional duty to elicit, understand and weigh the views of their patient, and where necessary their representatives. This can only be undertaken through a process of facilitated patient choice utilising the available legal and professional decision-making frameworks. Any decision relating to clinically assisted nutrition and/or hydration in a frail older person who is considered to be nearing the end of their life must also include explicit consideration of the needs of that individual for formalised palliative care.