Nutrition Assessment: Case Studies and Nutritional Implications

The Nutrition Care Process

Illnesses and their treatments can affect food intake and nutrient needs, leading to malnutrition. In turn, poor nutrition can reduce the effectiveness of medical treatment. The nutrition care process includes four interrelated steps: nutrition assessment, nutrition diagnosis, nutrition intervention, and nutrition monitoring and evaluation.

There are several case studies embedded below to help you review the different components of a nutrition assessment. Follow the instructions for each part of this assignment.
Assignment Objectives:

• To identify factors that affect nutritional health (a.k.a nutritional implications).

• To apply methods for determining energy requirements and estimate energy requirements for a given individual using several equations derived from research.

• To describe the types of diets in a typical clinical settings in determining the appropriate nutrition provision for a patient.

• Learn when to refer to the Dietitian.

Instructions: Work individually answer the questions with each case study. Answer the following questions as thoroughly as possible. Do not forget to aid citations/references to support your answers. Failure to do so can result in a mark of zero. (Do not use Healthline as a resource-I am finding the information is not always correct on this website). Use Peer Reviewed articles, textbook, unlockfoods.ca or specific clinical organizations that refer to the case conditions. (example Diabetes Canada, Heart and Stroke etc).

Case 1 : A man age 78, lives alone, his spouse recently died, uses a walker, has no natural teeth or dentures, has a history of hypertension and diabetes, uses medication that causes frequent urination.

Question: Describe the potential nutritional implications (in other word: how to do these factors affect the person nutritional health) of these findings from a patient’s medical, personal, and social histories. Support your answers with citations/references from credible sources.

Case 2: You are doing a clinical assessment on a new Resident to your long term care facility. Use the following information to complete the questions below.

Resident is a man who is 5 feet 11 inches tall with a current weight (wt) of 150 pounds and a usual body weight (UBW) of 180 pounds.

B. What additional information do you need to interpret the implications of his weight loss? (remember to cite/reference to support your answers).

Case 3: Jonathan is a 49-year-old male who is 6 feet 2 inches tall and has a usual body weight of 180 pounds. He was admitted to the hospital following an automobile accident and was treated for minor injuries. (Hint you will need to convert to kg and cm)

Question: Estimate his energy requirement using the Mifflin– St. Jeor equation and Harris Benedict equation to estimated RMR (resting metabolic rate) and a stress factor of 1.2. compare results. How do they differ. When is the use of one of these equations better to use than the other. (example of how to estimate RMR can be found in the text on page 40, also see class notes ). (cite/reference your answer)

Case 4 : A healthy 70-year-old woman, admitted to the hospital for a hip replacement surgery, develops an infection after the surgery and recovery is slower than expected. You notice that she seems uninterested in meals and has eaten only small amounts of food for several days.

Question: What steps (or what process) can be taken to uncover and address problems that the woman might be having with food? Explain your answers (cite/reference to support answer).