The role of food and nutrition in recovery

Tech-enabled food ordering can improve a patient's hospital experience

Getting proper treatment and medical therapy is crucial to a patient, but other factors like food and nutrition are integral to care and recovery. They play an important role in a patient's healing journey.

Various studies conducted by nutritional research companies have found that undernourishment is prevalent in 15–70 per cent of patients in hospital, while 69 per cent experience a decline in nutritional status during their hospital stay.

A patient's nutrition must not be neglected while they are admitted, as proper diet not only aids physical recovery but also provides comfort on a psychological and emotional level. Medical Nutrition Therapy is all about understanding the macro and micronutrients that go into each dish served and being able to tailor every patient's diet through an in-depth understanding of their unique nutritional needs.

Food and mealtimes have the potential to become the key uplifting factors for a patient undergoing a rather anxious and stressful stay at a hospital. Being able to choose from a variety of dishes instead of limited, uninspiring options would stimulate the patients' appetite and put them on the road to recovery.

Food has a powerful psychological impact on people, and it has the potential to shift a patient's reactive cure to proactive healing. It is important to take into account the individual's needs with personalized dietary solutions designed to address the therapeutic intervention.

Tech-enabled food ordering would let patients and their caretakers be aware of the meals being served—from ingredients, nutritional value, and segregation according to procedure-specific diets to staples and superfoods.

Nutrition interventions must be integrated into the provision of healthcare services. With the increasing number of emerging diseases, dietary needs are also diversifying. The healthcare system needs a procedure-specific approach when serving patients.

Thoroughly researched and curated data that helps understand each patient's macro and micronutrient requirements, allergens, demographics, cultural beliefs, and nutritional status at the time of admission should be curated and kept in mind while designing every patient's dietary plan. Access to such data that can help establish all these factors right from hospital admission can completely change a patient's experience at the hospital and enhance patient satisfaction.

Data and insights combined with a tech-enabled service, could become the key pillar in the healthcare industry's transformation journey. Such a solution would create a sensorial experience for patients. They would be able to enjoy a wide variety of nutritious food choices, and the ease of ordering, payments, and feedback management would improve patient satisfaction and contribute to their speedy recovery.

Nutrition and wellbeing management would empower patients and caregivers to create a calm and healthy environment, uplift the patient's mood, accelerate their recovery and support healthcare workers to provide optimum care.

(Pariksha Rao is Nutrition Consultant for Compass Group India, one of the world’s largest corporate food service providers)