Designed to help nutrition professionals build and sustain an effective total quality management program for nutrition services in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, etc. Provides a discussion of quality assessment, monitoring, and evaluation. Includes background information on total quality management and its adaptation to health care settings and a discussion of departmental systems and tools for quality management. Deals with the quality monitoring and evaluation process, and offers suggestions for managing the quality process. Contains references and examples from dietetic practice.
Malnutrition and obesity are both common among Americans over age 65. There are also a host of other medical conditions from which older people and other Medicare beneficiaries suffer that could be improved with appropriate nutritional intervention. Despite that, access to a nutrition professional is very limited. Do nutrition services benefit older people in terms of morbidity, mortality, or quality of life? Which health professionals are best qualified to provide such services? What would be the cost to Medicare of such services? Would the cost be offset by reduced illness in this population? This book addresses these questions, provides recommendations for nutrition services for the elderly, and considers how the coverage policy should be approached and practiced. The book discusses the role of nutrition therapy in the management of a number of diseases. It also examines what the elderly receive in the way of nutrition services along the continuum of care settings and addresses the areas of expertise needed by health professionals to provide appropriate nutrition services and therapy.
There is a significant deficiency among contemporary medicine practices reflected by experts making medical decisions for a large proportion of the population for which no or minimal data exists. Fortunately, our capacity to procure and apply such information is rapidly rising. As medicine becomes more individualized, the implementation of health IT and data interoperability become essential components to delivering quality healthcare. Quality Assurance in the Era of Individualized Medicine is a collection of innovative research on the methods and utilization of digital readouts to fashion an individualized therapy instead of a mass-population-directed strategy. While highlighting topics including assistive technologies, patient management, and clinical practices, this book is ideally designed for health professionals, doctors, nurses, hospital management, medical administrators, IT specialists, data scientists, researchers, academicians, and students.
Over the past 20 years, public concerns have grown in response to the apparent rising prevalence of food allergy and related atopic conditions, such as eczema. Although evidence on the true prevalence of food allergy is complicated by insufficient or inconsistent data and studies with variable methodologies, many health care experts who care for patients agree that a real increase in food allergy has occurred and that it is unlikely to be due simply to an increase in awareness and better tools for diagnosis. Many stakeholders are concerned about these increases, including the general public, policy makers, regulatory agencies, the food industry, scientists, clinicians, and especially families of children and young people suffering from food allergy. At the present time, however, despite a mounting body of data on the prevalence, health consequences, and associated costs of food allergy, this chronic disease has not garnered the level of societal attention that it warrants. Moreover, for patients and families at risk, recommendations and guidelines have not been clear about preventing exposure or the onset of reactions or for managing this disease. Finding a Path to Safety in Food Allergy examines critical issues related to food allergy, including the prevalence and severity of food allergy and its impact on affected individuals, families, and communities; and current understanding of food allergy as a disease, and in diagnostics, treatments, prevention, and public policy. This report seeks to: clarify the nature of the disease, its causes, and its current management; highlight gaps in knowledge; encourage the implementation of management tools at many levels and among many stakeholders; and delineate a roadmap to safety for those who have, or are at risk of developing, food allergy, as well as for others in society who are responsible for public health.
Completely revised with new chapters and sections covering everything the health-care provider needs to know when working with the older adult either at home or in nursing and long-term care facilities. Chapters cover factors affecting nutrition, nutrition and disease, nutritional assessment, dining challenges and regulatory compliance. This scientifically sound and practical resource for new and experienced nutrition professionals includes new forms, resources, the food guide pyramid for older adults and an index of tales.
This second edition of a bestseller, Nutrition in Public Health: Principles, Policies, and Practice focuses on the role of the federal government in determining nutrition policy and influencing practice. Beginning with an overview of public health principles, the book examines the application of nutritional policy to dietary guidance, health promot