Food in Hospitals: The patients' perspective

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore the psychosocial aspects of food in hospital from the perspective of the patients, and to determine whether the psychosocial aspects of food are an important determinant in the patients' consumption of hospital food. Although hospital malnutrition has been recognised since the 1970s (Bistrian et al. 1976), its prevalence is not diminishing (Huq et al. 2005). The motivation for this study is the desire to find out what determines the food preferences of hospital patients, and whether individual food preferences, and the experiences patients have in hospital, affect their eating. Whether patients eat while they are in hospital will ultimately affect their nutritional status. The answers to these questions should provide important information for improving patients' food intake in hospital. The aims of this study are threefold. The first aim is to explore the effect that hospitalisation has on the normal food praxis of individuals. The second aim is to describe the experience of food and eating in hospital from the patients' perspectives, and the third, and final aim is to determine the ways in which healthcare practice and food culture interact and the effect this has on patients' food consumption in hospital. The ultimate objective of the research project is to obtain valuable information on the basis of which recommendations can be made for improving patients' food-related experiences in hospital.