Resources are needed to aid healthcare providers and families in making end-of-life nutrition care decisions for residents living in long-term care settings. This scoping review aimed to explore what is reported in the literature about resources to support decision-making at the end of life in long-term care. Four databases were searched for research published from 2003 to June 2023. Articles included peer-reviewed human studies published in the English language that reported resources to support decision-making about end-of-life nutrition in long-term care settings. In total, 15 articles were included. Thematic analysis of the articles generated five themes: conversations about care, evidence-based decision-making, a need for multidisciplinary perspectives, honouring residents\' goals of care, and cultural considerations for adapting resources. Multidisciplinary care teams supporting residents and their families during the end of life can benefit from resources to support discussion and facilitate decision-making.

BACKGROUND: Dietary modifications are considered a first-line intervention for chronic disease management, yet graduating doctors still report not feeling competent to counsel patients on their diet. Research has focused on methods to address this shortfall in physician competency, including culinary medicine. Culinary medicine is an approach to education that involves hands-on food and cooking learning experiences to equip participants with tools for improving the nutrition behaviour and health of their future patients. Despite positive findings in the efficacy of these interventions, they differ markedly in approach and target, which therefore fails to provide adequate evidence that could serve to guide future culinary medicine interventions.
OBJECTIVE: A scoping review to synthesize the existing literature on culinary medicine interventions that are offered during medical training.
METHODS: Online databases were used to identify literature published prior to April 2022 that involve a hands-on culinary medicine component to nutrition and examine academic impact, feasibility and acceptability.
RESULTS: Twenty-four studies met the eligibility criteria. Despite promising gains in nutrition knowledge, confidence and high acceptability of the programs, large variations exist in delivery method, setting, and course content between programs. There is a lack of program cost reporting and long-term follow up of participants, inconsistent evidence for improved nutrition attitudes amongst participants, as well as geographically limited adoption of such programs.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this research demonstrate a clear increase in interest in the use of hands-on culinary medicine programs as educational tools, evidence of feasibility in implementation, and improved student nutritional knowledge, skill and counseling compared to a traditional didactic curriculum. The quality of culinary medicine research studies is increasing and the aims of research are narrowing to focus on how culinary medicine can positively impact medical education. The findings from this review will aid in legitimising culinary medicine as an effective delivery method of nutritional education in medical programs.

As food intake patterns become less structured, different methods of dietary assessment may be required to capture frequently omitted snacks, smaller meals, and the time of day when they are consumed. Incorporating sensors that passively and objectively detect eating behavior may assist in capturing these eating occasions into dietary assessment methods. The aim of this study was to identify and collate sensor-based technologies that are feasible for dietitians to use to assist with performing dietary assessments in real-world practice settings. A scoping review was conducted using the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) framework. Studies were included if they were published between January 2016 and December 2021 and evaluated the performance of sensor-based devices for identifying and recording the time of food intake. Devices from included studies were further evaluated against a set of feasibility criteria to determine whether they could potentially be used to assist dietitians in conducting dietary assessments. The feasibility criteria were, in brief, consisting of an accuracy ≥80%; tested in settings where subjects were free to choose their own foods and activities; social acceptability and comfort; a long battery life; and a relatively rapid detection of an eating episode. Fifty-four studies describing 53 unique devices and 4 device combinations worn on the wrist (n = 18), head (n = 16), neck (n = 9), and other locations (n = 14) were included. Whilst none of the devices strictly met all feasibility criteria currently, continuous refinement and testing of device software and hardware are likely given the rapidly changing nature of this emerging field. The main reasons devices failed to meet the feasibility criteria were: an insufficient or lack of reporting on battery life (91%), the use of a limited number of foods and behaviors to evaluate device performance (63%), and the device being socially unacceptable or uncomfortable to wear for long durations (46%). Until sensor-based dietary assessment tools have been designed into more inconspicuous prototypes and are able to detect most food and beverage consumption throughout the day, their use will not be feasible for dietitians in practice settings.

BACKGROUND: Quality improvement strategies have been widely applied in health care; however, little is known about their use in primary care dietetics. This review aims to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of quality improvement strategies that seek to improve patient outcomes by enhancing dietetic care compared to standard dietetic care.
METHODS: The study employed a systematic review and meta-analysis design following PRISMA guidelines and included studies up to March 2021. Studies were included if they used a randomised controlled trial (RCT) design to evaluate the effect of a quality improvement strategy applied to care delivered by a dietitian on patient outcomes. A meta-analysis was conducted where there were sufficient studies with homogeneous populations and outcome measures.
RESULTS: Twelve RCTs (n = 1604) met the inclusion criteria for review and five studies (n = 511) were eligible for meta-analysis for glycated haemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes. The most frequently reported quality improvement strategies addressed disease management programs (58%), patient education (67%), group care (42%) and patient self-management (42%). A positive intervention effect was reported in 50% of the included studies. A low grade of evidence supported a positive intervention effect for quality improvement intervention by a dietitian for glycated haemoglobin (pooled mean difference = -0.39% with 95% confidence interval = -0.70 to -0.08, p = 0.01) in n = 511 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
CONCLUSIONS: Interventions aimed at enhancing quality in primary care dietetic practice support improvements in patient outcomes. Further research on quality improvement interventions for patient outcomes is required to strengthen the evidence base in this important topic.

Malnutrition, frailty and sarcopenia are becoming increasingly prevalent among community-dwelling older adults; yet are often unidentified and untreated in community settings. There is an urgent need for community-based healthcare professionals (HCPs) from all disciplines, including medicine, nursing and allied health, to be aware of, and to be able to recognise and appropriately manage these conditions. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of malnutrition, frailty and sarcopenia in the community, including their definitions, prevalence, impacts and causes/risk factors; and guidance on how these conditions may be identified and managed by HCPs in the community. A detailed description of the care process, including screening and referral, assessment and diagnosis, intervention, and monitoring and evaluation, relevant to the community context, is also provided. Further research exploring the barriers/enablers to delivering high-quality nutrition care to older community-dwelling adults who are malnourished, frail or sarcopenic is recommended, to inform the development of specific guidance for HCPs in identifying and managing these conditions in the community.

Dietitians are recognised as experts in nutrition care and essential members of multidisciplinary healthcare teams. However, the role of dietitians in caring for people with eating disorders is not well understood. The present review aimed to identify, critically appraise and synthesise the current evidence exploring the views and experiences of dietitians, other health professionals, patients and carers regarding the role of dietitians in the treatment of eating disorders.
CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus and PsycINFO were searched in April 2020 and again in February 2021. Studies were included if they were original research; explored views and experiences of the role of dietitians in the treatment of eating disorders, including perceptions of patients, carers and other health professionals regarding nutrition care for eating disorders; and the full-text article was available in English. Title and abstract screening, full-text screening, quality assessment and data extraction were completed in duplicate. Quality assessment was conducted using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool. Thematic synthesis was used for data analysis.
Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods study designs were included. Four themes emerged inductively from the data: (i) dietitians as collaborators, educators and counsellors; (ii) dietitians individualising care and desiring a holistic approach; (iii) opportunities for dietitians to gain confidence; and (iv) experiencing nutrition care as a patient or carer.
This review suggests that dietitians have a varied role in eating disorder treatment but desire further training. Understanding the training needs of dietitians can identify practice gaps and opportunities to enhance clinician confidence.

Nutrition care plays a critical role in the provision of best practice care to head and neck cancer (HNC) patients, with carers playing an important role in supporting patients to maintain nutrition intake. This qualitative systematic review investigated patient and carer experience of nutrition care throughout and beyond HNC treatment. Five databases were systematically searched for qualitative studies reporting on patient and carer experience of nutrition care throughout HNC. Twenty-five studies including 435 patients and 46 carers were identified, revealing three themes: information and support in the healthcare setting, enteral feeding challenges and management, and life outside hospital. Findings highlight the importance of providing individualised person-centred nutrition care to patients with HNC and their carers. Further qualitative research is needed to inform healthcare professionals about the needs of patients and carers to provide appropriate support throughout the treatment trajectory across and between different treatment modalities.

Effective, evidence-based strategies to prevent and treat obesity are urgently required. Dietitians have provided individualized weight management counselling for decades, yet evidence of the effectiveness of this intervention has never been synthesized. The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of individualized nutrition care for weight management provided by dietitians to adults in comparison to minimal or no intervention. Databases (Cochrane, CINAHL plus, MedLine ovid, ProQuest family health, PubMed, Scopus) were searched for terms analogous with patient, dietetics and consultation with no date restrictions. The search yielded 5796 unique articles, with 14 randomized controlled trials meeting inclusion criteria. The risk of bias for the included studies ranged from unclear to high. Six studies found a significant intervention effect for the dietitian consultation, and a further four found significant positive change for both the intervention and control groups. Data were synthesized through random effects meta-analysis from five studies (n = 1598) with weight loss as the outcome, and from four studies (n = 1224) with Body Mass Index (BMI) decrease as the outcome. Groups receiving the dietitian intervention lost an additional 1.03 kg (95% CI:-1.40; -0.66, p < 0.0001) of weight and 0.43 kg/m2 (95% CI:-0.59, -0.26; p < 0.0001) of BMI than those receiving usual care. Heterogeneity was low for both weight loss and BMI, with the pooled means varying from 1.26 to -0.93 kg and -0.4 kg/m² for weight and BMI, respectively, with the removal of single studies. This study is the first to synthesize evidence on the effectiveness of individualized nutrition care delivered by a dietitian. Well-controlled studies that include cost-effectiveness measures are needed to strengthen the evidence base.