Interprofessional collaboration regarding nutrition intervention for the frail elderly in the discharge process from hospital to home: a qualitative study

Background: Multidisciplinary nutritional interventions have a positive outcome for frail elderly patients on various parameters. At the same time studies show the cross sectoral nutritional efforts seem to be insufficient in the transition from hospital to home.
Introduction: The aim of this study was to explore health care professionals’ experiences regarding nutrition intervention in the discharge process of frail elderly from hospital to home with focus on collaboration.
Material and methods: A qualitative research method was used in the study, and data was collected through 9 individual interviews of health care professionals.
The informants were recruited from three collaborating levels of care from a) hospital through b) municipal coordination to c) citizen-centred health care.
Results: The analysis of the collected data provided 5 themes and 1 emerging sub-theme. Themes were: Crosssectoral experiences, general communication, communication concerning nutrition, interprofessional collaboration, inclusion of the frail elderly. The emerging sub-theme regarded the understanding of the term ‘nutrition’.
Conclusions: Cross-sectoral communication and interprofessional collaboration on nutritional support is conducted through electronical patient records and is obstructed in the chain of communication. Simultaneously dietitians are rarely involved in the collaboration.