Diet needs of patients referred to home health

The purpose of this study was to document the dietary needs of patients referred to home health care. The charts of 812 patients taken for care by the Visiting Nurse Association of Chicago (VNA) were reviewed for the physician's diet order, number of restrictions, diagnoses, age, height, weight, and fee source. More than half of the patients had therapeutic diets ordered by their physicians. A quarter of the patients with therapeutic diets had two or more dietary modifications. An audit process was developed as a reliability check of the authors' determination of the appropriateness of the diet. Review of the charts by registered dietitians (R.D.s) showed that three-fourths of the patients appeared to need therapeutic diets. Forty-seven percent might have benefited from a different diet. More than half of the patients for whom the R.D.s recommended a special diet needed two or more modifications. This emphasizes the need for the R.D. to develop a system for monitoring the dietary requirements of all patients referred to home health care. It further underscores the need for collaboration between physician and dietitian. The registered dietitian who works in home health care agencies serving diverse age groups needs to be a generalist prepared to develop a plan for the total nutrition treatment of persons throughout the life cycle.