A dieta hospitalar na perspectiva dos sujeitos envolvidos em sua produção e em seu planejamento

Taste changes as a metaphor for biographical disruption: A qualitative study in patients undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplantation

PURPOSE

and objective: The treatment side effects of patients undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplantation can cause various eating difficulties. The objective of this study was to explore the significance of eating experiences and taste changes from the perspective of patients undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

METHOD

This was a qualitative, exploratory study based on semi-structured interviews applied during hospitalisation for haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Thematic content analysis and the biographical disruption concept were used as theoretical references to explore the results.

RESULTS

Twenty patients were studied. The overarching theme identified from the results was deconstruction of the taste reference resulting from sensory taste change, loss of eating references and changes to the hedonic relationship with food caused by the treatment. In addition to this deconstruction, participants described the reformulation of eating habits as a way of coping with the disease, which affected the eating experience and motivated the dietary strategies adopted.

CONCLUSIONS

Taste changes during haematopoietic stem cell transplantation are related to both biological issues and metaphysical aspects. This study raises the meaning of loss of sensory references and their symbolic aspects. These results were important to expand our view to include other aspects that can contribute to improving the care given to these individuals.

Speech-Language and Nutritional Sciences in hospital environment: analysis of terminology of food consistencies classification

PURPOSE

To verify if there is an agreement between speech-language pathologists and nutritionists about the classification of food textures used in hospitals and their opinions about the possible consequences of differences in this classification.

METHODS

This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study with 30 speech-language pathologists and 30 nutritionists who worked in 14 hospitals of public and/or private network in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The professionals answered a questionnaire, prepared by the researchers, and classified five different foods, with and without theoretical direction. The data were analyzed using Fisher's exact and Z -tests to compare ratios with a 5% significance level.

RESULTS

Both speech-language therapists (100%) and nutritionists (90%) perceive divergence in the classification and, 86.2% and 100% of them, respectively, believe that this difference may affect the patients' recovery. Aspiration risk was the most mentioned problem. For the general classification of food textures, most of the professionals (88.5%) suggested four to six terms. As to the terminology used in the classification of food presented without theoretical direction, the professionals cited 49 terms and agreed only in the solid and liquid classifications. With theoretical direction, the professionals also agreed in the classification of thick and thin paste.

CONCLUSION

Both the professionals recognized divergences in the classification of food textures and the consequent risk of damage to patient's recovery. The use of theoretical direction increased the agreement between these professionals.

Acceptance of hospital diets and nutritional status among inpatients with cancer

Objective:

To verify acceptance of hospital diets as to the nutritional status among patients admitted to the Oncology/Hematology Unit of a tertiary care hospital.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study conducted among 100 patients, aged ≥18 years, of both genders. Body mass index and subjective global nutritional evaluation by patients were used to detect the nutritional status. The rest-ingestion index was used to evaluate diet acceptance, and the reasons for non-acceptance were identified by means of a questionnaire. Data were expressed in means and standard deviation, or medians and percentages. Comparisons were made using the Student's t test, Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test, and Pearson's χ² test.

Results:

A total of 59% of patients were males, and mean age was 51.6±13.5 years. According to the global subjective nutritional evaluation done by the patients themselves, 33% of the participants were considered malnourished and the body mass index detected 6.3% of malnutrition. The main symptoms reported were lack of appetite, xerostomia (dry mouth), constipation, dysgeusia, odor-related nausea, and early satiety. The rest-ingestion index was approximately 37% and significantly greater among the malnourished relative to the well-nourished (58.8 versus 46.4%; p=0.04). The primary reasons reported for non-acceptance of the diet offered were lack of flavor, monotonous preparations, large quantities offered, lack of appetite, and inappropriate temperature of the meal.

Conclusion:

A high the rest-ingestion index was seen among the patients with cancer, especially those who were malnourished according to the global nutritional evaluation produced by the patient.

Gauging food and nutritional care quality in hospitals

BACKGROUND

Food and nutritional care quality must be assessed and scored, so as to improve health institution efficacy. This study aimed to detect and compare actions related to food and nutritional care quality in public and private hospitals.

METHODS

Investigation of the Hospital Food and Nutrition Service (HFNS) of 37 hospitals by means of structured interviews assessing two quality control corpora, namely nutritional care quality (NCQ) and hospital food service quality (FSQ). HFNS was also evaluated with respect to human resources per hospital bed and per produced meal.

RESULTS

Comparison between public and private institutions revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between the number of hospital beds per HFNS staff member (p = 0.02) and per dietitian (p < 0.01). The mean compliance with NCQ criteria in public and private institutions was 51.8% and 41.6%, respectively. The percentage of public and private health institutions in conformity with FSQ criteria was 42.4% and 49.1%, respectively. Most of the actions comprising each corpus, NCQ and FSQ, varied considerably between the two types of institution. NCQ was positively influenced by hospital type (general) and presence of a clinical dietitian. FSQ was affected by institution size: large and medium-sized hospitals were significantly better than small ones.

CONCLUSIONS

Food and nutritional care in hospital is still incipient, and actions concerning both nutritional care and food service take place on an irregular basis. It is clear that the design of food and nutritional care in hospital indicators is mandatory, and that guidelines for the development of actions as well as qualification and assessment of nutritional care are urgent.

[Hospital food: proposals for qualification of the Food and Nutrition Service, evaluated by the scientific community]

The scope of this paper is to validate proposals used to qualify hospital food by the Brazilian scientific community. An electronic questionnaire was applied to clinical nutrition professionals registered on the Lattes Platform (Brazilian database of institutions and researchers' curricula in the areas of Science and Technology). The questionnaire incorporated a Likert scale and had spaces for comments. The themes dealt with patient participation, the nutritional and sensory quality of hospital diets, and planning and goals of the Hospital Food and Nutrition Service (HFNS). The questionnaire also asked for the top five priorities for a HFNS. Proposals with total or partial adherence equal to or greater than 70% were considered to be approved. All proposals had total adherence equal to or greater than 70%. The proposal that had minimal adherence (70%) was the one that proposed that nutritional intervention must be arranged by mutual agreement with the patient. The proposal that had maximal adherence (93%) was the one advocating that there must be statistical control on diets prescribed by the HFNS. The most cited priorities referred to infrastructure and training of human resources (40%), the quality of hospital food (27%) and the nutritional status of the patient.

A nutrição clínica ampliada e a humanização da relação nutricionista-paciente: contribuições para reflexão

A concepção da clínica nutricional ampliada é uma temática nova para o campo da nutrição, sobretudo da nutrição clínica. Diante do processo de reformulações nos cenários de práticas em saúde no âmbito do Sistema Único de Saúde, esse tema instiga substancial interesse na produção científica, na formação e na prática clínica do nutricionista com a aplicação de competências comunicacionais e a ampliação do olhar técnico-nutricional perante o processo saúde-doença-cuidado, que podem contribuir para a reconfiguração da relação nutricionista-paciente a fim de ampliar sua humanização. Este ensaio mostra como a concepção de nutrição clínica ampliada pode contribuir para refletir sobre a ampliação da humanização da relação nutricionista-paciente no âmbito dos serviços de saúde. O ensaio é delineado em duas partes: o ponto de partida e o ponto de continuação. No ponto de partida, analisam-se publicações oficiais sobre a conformação sócio-histórica do modelo biomédico e sua repercussão na prática clínica. No ponto de continuação, observa-se a clínica nutricional como prática social e utiliza-se a concepção da clínica ampliada para discutir as possibilidades de reestruturar a nutrição clínica e ampliar seus saberes e suas técnicas para além de um modelo biomédico restrito e restritivo. Por fim, discute-se a nutrição clínica ampliada como possibilidade para repensar a relação nutricionista-paciente e propor, nesse sentido, sua humanização, a incorporação de conteúdos não biomédicos, a valorização da sabedoria prática e da escuta, a articulação de saberes e a exploração da dimensão dialógica no exercício legítimo da nutrição clínica na contemporaneidade.

[Hospital nutritional care: perception of the nutritionist for humanized attendance]

The research analyzed the actions of alimentary and nutritional care considering the perspectives of the nutritionists in a hospital reference for the National Politics of Humanization (PNH). From a qualitative approach, a focal group technique was used. The nutritionists were divided in two groups by working time, following homogeneity criteria. The interviews were developed for analysis of the category: Being a nutritionist for a humanized assistance, seeking to understand these professionals following actions: nutritional evaluation of the patient; planning, implementation and evaluation of the nutritional and alimentary care. The analysis of the content was used as a technique for the systematization of the collected information grouped in units of meaning. The study disclosed that there is prioritization of the individualized assistance in function of the number of beds and bureaucratic activities, lack of autonomy in relation to the prescription of diets, difficulties of interaction with other health professionals and between the nutritionists of the clinical and meal production areas. The results will provide the professional subsidies that substantiate actions for the construction of a model of humanized alimentary and nutritional care on hospitals.

Aceitação de dietas em ambiente hospitalar

OBJETIVO: O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar a aceitação de dietas de pacientes internados em um hospital público do município de Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se análise dos restos alimentares de pacientes internados em unidades de internação médica durante 15 dias, por meio do índice resto-ingestão. O índice foi determinado por tipos de dieta, classificadas em normal, especial com sal e especial sem sal. Enquetes de satisfação com pacientes avaliaram os fatores que influenciam a aceitação das refeições. RESULTADOS: O peso total distribuído correspondente a 1.877 refeições foi de 868kg e o peso dos restos totalizou 313kg. Foi encontrado um índice resto-ingestão de 36,09% e um retorno de 53,68%, 33,99% e 33,84% de dietas especiais com sal, normais e especiais sem sal respectivamente. A variedade, a quantidade e a apresentação das refeições foram avaliadas de forma positiva. A temperatura e o uso de temperos foram os aspectos de menor satisfação, representando 43,00% e 34,30%, respectivamente, para os critérios de regular a ruim. O índice resto-ingestão encontrado (36,09%) estava acima do aceitável para uma população enferma (20,00%), demonstrando uma perda considerável de alimentos. CONCLUSÃO: A partir dos resultados, observou-se a necessidade de avaliar os processos envolvidos na produção dessas refeições e de elaborar estratégias que estimulem a ingestão alimentar do paciente.

[Nutritional care in public hospitals of four Brazilian states: contributions of health evaluation to health surveillance services]

Considering the importance of nutritional care for the quality of care provided to hospitalized patients, the study aims to assess health care in eight public hospitals that have received support from QualiSUS in four Brazilian states. There were semi-structured interviews with nutritionists, direct observation and review of 219 records of patients admitted to the medical clinics. The findings suggest weaknesses in the hospital nutritional care, poor integration between the production of food and nutritional care in the surveyed hospitals, in addition to structural deficiencies. We highlight problems related to the nutritional care process, including its documentation. In 93% of the records there were no records on the nutritional status on admission, or nutritional assessment of patients in nutritional therapy. It was observed that the assessment made by the health surveillance in routine inspections, focusing on the verification of compliance and structural aspects, does not include the detection of a possible nutritional risk for the patient. We suggest the inclusion of other criteria and strategies for surveillance, among them a review of open medical records.

Comida de hospital: percepções de pacientes em um hospital público com proposta de atendimento humanizado

O objetivo do estudo foi conhecer a percepção de pacientes sobre a alimentação em um hospital de referência para a Política Nacional de Humanização. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa para a qual foram realizadas 26 entrevistas em profundidade, semiestruturadas, aplicadas a pacientes adultos e idosos internados há quatro ou mais dias em clínicas médicas. O estudo revelou que os pacientes aprovam o bom atendimento e consideram o cuidado humanizado da equipe de saúde; percebem a alimentação como parte das regras da instituição e a relacionam com a doença e com a recuperação da saúde; consideram que a presença de acompanhante, o ambiente hospitalar, medicamentos e aspectos sensoriais influenciam a aceitação da alimentação. O horário das refeições foi considerado modelo a ser seguido. Os pacientes demonstraram dificuldade em opinar sobre mudanças na alimentação ou sobre suas rotinas. A refeição é um momento de interação entre os próprios pacientes, acompanhantes e equipe de saúde. O estudo concluiu que comer bem no hospital depende do que os pacientes podem ou não comer devido a sua doença, revelando que, possivelmente, não haja identificação da alimentação hospitalar com a sua história alimentar, preferências ou hábitos adquiridos ao longo de sua vida.

[Assessment levels of the user's satisfaction in a private hospital]

The objective of this study was to analyze the satisfaction of the users of a private hospital in terms of a number of attributes of the services in units. This exploratory, descriptive study used a quantitative approach and was developed in a private hospital in the city of São Paulo. The casuistry consisted of 71 users and data collection was performed during the period from March to August 2007, using a derivative of the scale model of the Service Quality (SERVQUAL) of the evaluative model of Parasuraman et al. The level of overall satisfaction ranged around 95%. The assurance (96%) and reliability (96%) were considered the most important dimensions of quality, followed by empathy (95%), responsiveness (93%) and tangibility (88%). Medical and nursing staffs introduced high levels of satisfaction. 91% has intention to recommend the hospital. This research provided the knowledge of the attributes most important in terms of satisfaction and contributed to confirming or reshaping assistance and management processes.

O trabalho sob a ótica das manipuladoras de alimentos de uma unidade hospitalar

OBJETIVO: Analisar as percepções acerca da atividade profissional de um grupo de manipuladores de alimentos de um hospital público. MÉTODOS: A pesquisa, de cunho qualitativo, foi realizada em um serviço de nutrição e dietética de um hospital público de ensino da Cidade de São Paulo. Desenvolveu-se a partir de corpus obtido por técnica do grupo focal realizada com 15 funcionárias, sendo 8 vinculadas ao lactário e 7 à cozinha dietética. Os depoimentos foram gravados, transcritos e analisados sob o ponto de vista do conteúdo e das representações sociais. Posteriormente, a validação da análise foi realizada com as participantes. A caracterização socioeconômica foi realizada com uso de um formulário auto-aplicável. RESULTADOS: O trabalho é percebido como crucial para a sobrevivência, porém de grande responsabilidade social, além de implicar em rotina exaustiva. Além disso, constitui instância que possibilita apoio e relacionamento entre as trabalhadoras, embora não lhes proporcione o status que julgam merecer. O trabalho é representado como instância simultânea de sofrimento e apoio; embora importante, tanto para elas mesmas, quanto para o grupo social. Ao mesmo tempo, chefias e os superiores se mostram alheios a todas as dificuldades. CONCLUSÃO: Por conseqüência, percebe-se que há necessidade de mudanças na organização do trabalho, a fim de reduzir os fatores que ocasionam cansaço, descontentamentos e desânimo nas manipuladoras. Faz-se necessário maior investimento, por parte da chefia do serviço, na adoção de estratégias gerenciais mais descentralizadas e participativas, respeitando, na medida do possível, as opiniões e diferenças individuais, bem como investindo em treinamentos periódicos dos trabalhadores.

[Sociocultural transformations in hospital food]

The article seeks to identify the historical roots of food culture in hospital settings. It assumes that diet is not merely the result of technical and scientific concerns but is also historically constructed, created, and recreated in response to economic and sociocultural elements. The study conducted a preliminary survey of university, municipal, and hospital archives in Campinas, São Paulo, and included interviews with food service workers at three hospital institutions. Our conclusion is that more value has been placed on initiatives and actions related to technology than on initiatives identified with the domestic world; this may have contributed to a certain tendency for hospitals to neglect the issue of food, deemed of minor importance.