Nutritional care is a human right: Translating principles to clinical practice

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Human Rights Law
• Clinical Nutrition

Background:

• Nutritional care is proposed as a fundamental human right, linked to the rights to food and health.
• Healthcare professionals (HCPs) require guidance on integrating human rights principles into clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the implications of establishing nutritional care as a human right for HCPs.
• To explore how the Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) can be translated into routine clinical practice.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the impact of HRBA on healthcare professionals.
• Examination of core human rights principles (FREDA: fairness, respect, equality, dignity, autonomy).

Main Results:

• HRBA provides a framework for patient-centered care, prioritizing patient needs and rights.
• Understanding FREDA principles aids clinicians in decision-making processes.
• Ethical considerations and HRBA should be integrated into clinical nutrition guidelines.

Conclusions:

• The HRBA empowers HCPs to deliver optimal and timely nutritional care.
• Nutritional care must be delivered with ethical values: attentiveness, responsibility, competence, responsiveness, and solidarity.