To strengthen the collaboration between dietician and physiotherapist, the AMC Amsterdam has started the project Pitstop Nutrition & Exercise. Through this project it is hoped that patients will lose less muscle mass and muscle strength during a hospital stay.
Pit stop
The QI Academy (Quality Improvement Academy of Amsterdam UMC) implemented the Pitstop Nutrition & Exercise project in the Internal Medicine department of the AMC in recent months. Rapid and significant muscle mass loss in hospitalized patients is common, especially in patients over 65 years of age. This can cause muscle loss during admission up to 1 kilo per week. It is often not feasible to repair this loss, as it requires a long intensive rehabilitation. A hospital admission can therefore result in permanent deterioration of muscle mass and muscle strength and therefore functionality. Project Pitstop stands for good multidisciplinary collaboration between dietetics and physiotherapy, in which the patient is central.
Unnecessary muscle mass loss
The Pitstop Nutrition & Exercise project consists of a project team of dieticians, physiotherapists, nurses and facility staff in collaboration with the QI Academy working group. The baseline measurement showed that the mostly older patients in the internal department (40 to 70 percent were over 65 years old) did not exercise enough and had insufficient protein intake. There was also no integrated nutrition and exercise treatment, which led to unnecessary muscle mass loss. Project Pitstop aims to ensure that the care team deploys the correct interventions timely and simultaneously for at least 90 percent of the patients (admitted to the internal department and older than 65 years). This contributes to maintaining muscle mass and condition during the clinical admission.
More collaboration
Within the Pitstop project, the dietician and physiotherapist now discuss all patients aged 65 and older admitted to the Internal Medicine department twice a week. The project team provides clinical lessons to train nurses from the relevant department about the importance of good eating and exercise. The nutritional assistant is also more involved in the guidance. Nutritional assistant and physiotherapist work more together, so that the patient is offered a protein-rich product after each exercise session. From now on, all older patients will receive a brochure about good eating and exercise in the hospital.
To learn from each other
The evaluations up to now are positive: the disciplines brands between themselves shortre lines and a better exchange of knowledge. People now want Project Pitstop optimizing and at all risk–departments of the AMC implement. Plans for a vfollow-up process to exist for example from the developand from more classes for healthcare staff and It connectionexpress at transfer consultation, zodat de eating and exercise treatment also can be continued after recording. Ultimately, people want eand develop toolkit that iin every hospital used can become.
Source: Nutrition and Exercise Now
