Checklist for Effective Nutrition Case Management

Still not sure how to incorporate nutrition screening into your case management care plans? Gayle S. Hoxter, MPH, RD, director of nutrition services, Ramona Visiting Nurses Association in Hemit, CA, recommends you use the following nutrition case management checklist:

Check risk factors for poor nutrition

o patient diagnosis

o major and minor indicators

Nutritional screening at time of admission

o determine checklist, level I or II

Nutrition screening score

o low risk

o moderate risk

o high risk

What intervention implemented?

o social services

o oral health

o mental health

o medication

o medical nutrition therapy

o nutrition counseling and education

o medical foods

Response to intervention?

o improved health outcome

o need to modify intervention and monitor for response

Monitoring/tracking

o nutrition screening

o every six months for low risk

o every three months for moderate risk

o every one month for high risk

Documentation

o initial assessment

o progress notes

Source: Keeping Older Americans Healthy At Home. Reprinted with permission from the Nutrition Screening Initiative in Wash-ington, DC, a project of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Dietetic Association, and the National Council on the Aging. Sponsored by the Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories, Columbus, OH.