Nutrition & Hydration Week Launch Highlights Phenomenal Global Support

Nutrition & Hydration Week 2015 officially launched with an event that brought together lead figures in health and social care catering from the UK and overseas.

The event on Wednesday 11 March 2015 highlighted the incredible global support for the awareness week that promotes the vital importance of good nutrition and hydration in health and social care settings and demonstrates how by making changes to eating and drinking habits people can improve their quality of life.

Representatives from the health and social care sector and media gathered at Chandos House, London, and welcomed the opportunity to hear from speakers about the plans for Nutrition & Hydration Week (16-22 March 2015) and the ongoing campaign to prevent malnutrition and dehydration, both at home and abroad.

Afternoon tea was also served in honour of the Worldwide Afternoon Tea on Wednesday 18 March. This event is the highlight and united focus of the week and will see afternoon tea served to patients, residents and service users across the globe.

Barb Cockwell, the president of the Canadian Society for Nutrition Management (CSNM) addressed the audience on the importance of Nutrition & Hydration Week and global action on this crucial issue.

Barb said: “This global challenge is important so that we can all unite collectively in the hope of bringing awareness and hopefully ending all preventable malnutrition. The global tea party is a great way to bring folks together to support nutrition and hydration for all citizens.

“Typically it is good to know other countries have similar struggles, however, when it comes to malnutrition this is something we should all be taking seriously and be concerned about. I would like to think that we have enough means between us to promote a healthy well-balanced diet so that our citizens can live a well-nourished life. A well-nourished senior (older person) is less likely to become ill and end up in hospital.

The annual Nutrition & Hydration Week, which is the result of the successful collaboration of the National Association of Care Catering (NACC), the Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) and NHS England Patient Safety, grows in scale and reach each year.

NHS England Patient Safety and Nutrition & Hydration Week lead, Caroline Lecko, commented: “It is fantastic to have our colleagues in Canada in attendance and listening to Barb speak demonstrates that malnutrition and dehydration are global issues. Through the sharing of best practices during Nutrition & Hydration Week we can all work towards the eradication of preventable malnutrition and dehydration in our generation.”

Andy Jones, the Hospital Caterers Association chair and Nutrition & Hydration Week lead, stated: “It is great to see our Canadian colleagues involved in similar work to what we are doing in UK hospitals, namely working to ensure that poor food intake is prevented and, if required, detected early with the correct practices put in place to ensure full recovery.”

Derek Johnson, National Association of Care Catering’s lead on Nutrition & Hydration Week added: “It is wonderful that our colleagues around the world are engaging in the same activity to promote good nutrition and hydration. There is so much we can learn from each other by sharing best practices both at home and overseas.”

For more information on Nutrition & Hydration Week 2015 go to www.nutritionandhydrationweek.co.uk or follow on Twitter @NHWeek