The Ethics of Communicating a Malnutrition Diagnosis in Adults and Pediatrics

About the Course

Accurate nutrition assessment and malnutrition diagnosis are essential for ensuring appropriate patient care, capturing patient complexity, and securing proper reimbursement; however, limited guidance exists on how best to communicate a malnutrition diagnosis to patients and their families. There is data to suggest that involving patients in their care improves outcomes, and communication has been shown to be key in the prevention and treatment of malnutrition in older adults. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of malnutrition may have a negative connotation for the patient and family. As a result, frontline members of the healthcare team may feel uncertain about how to initiate these conversations or how to respond to patients’ and caregivers’ reactions to the diagnosis. This barrier to communication may impact patient outcomes.

This webinar will equip members of the healthcare team with strategies to effectively communicate a malnutrition diagnosis to both adult and pediatric patients and their family members. First, it will discuss the ethical need to communicate a malnutrition diagnosis to a patient. Then, it will conclude with several case studies that allow participants to apply the learning to clinical cases, so that they will feel confident in discussing a malnutrition diagnosis with patients and families in practice.