Food Allergy in Hospital from the Patient Perspective: taking a Mixed Methods approach to understand Foodservice Management
2018 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Foodservice is integral to safe, adequate and satisfactory food allergy management in the hospital setting. To date, research focused on objective measures of energy and protein provision, implementation and evaluation of food allergy guidelines and assessment of process failures leading to allergen exposure. There is a lack of focus on taking a person-centred approach to understanding the barriers and enablers to optimal food allergy management.
A mixed methods phenomenological approach was espoused at a tertiary acute care hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. Data collection techniques included 24-hr diet recall, foodservice satisfaction questionnaires and semi-structured qualitative interviews, all delivered by an Accredited Dietitian. Statistical and thematic analysis was conducted, followed by convergence of the results from each phase of the study.
Mean energy intake indicated 64% of requirements and 81% of protein requirements were met; which included external food intake to supplement the hospital diet for around half of the patients. Most patients rated their overall food service satisfaction as ‘Good’, with food quality being the lowest rated foodservice dimension. Addressing sensory, variety and communications aspects of foodservice were focus areas identified by the study patients. These included improving bland flavours and plain appearance, restricted menu choices and automated allergen interface between systems.
With a person-centred care focus, the study identified new findings on the views and attitudes of patients with a food allergy on foodservice management in hospital. Within the Food and Meal Science field, the study may be seen as an initial exploratory enquiry for future research on food allergy.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018. , p. 47
Keywords [en]
food allergy, nutrition, hospital, mixed methods, person centred care
National Category
Other Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hkr:diva-19028OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hkr-19028DiVA, id: diva2:1285424
Supervisors
Examiners
2019-02-042019-02-042019-02-04Bibliographically approved