Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Feb 12;15(2):e0228924.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228924. eCollection 2020.

Perceived needs of patients and family caregivers regarding home-based enteral nutritional therapy in South Africa: A qualitative study

Nomaxabiso Mildred Mooi  1 , Busisiwe Purity Ncama  1
Affiliations

Perceived needs of patients and family caregivers regarding home-based enteral nutritional therapy in South Africa: A qualitative study

Nomaxabiso Mildred Mooi et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Introduction: The need for specialized care, particularly enteral nutritional therapy in community settings is now increasing with implications for both patients and primary care providers. More research is needed to identify the needs of patients and primary caregivers. The study aimed to explore the perceived support needs regarding the provision of home-based enteral nutritional therapy among critically ill adult patients and family caregivers in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa.

Methods: A qualitative study of purposely selected adult patients on homebased enteral nutritional therapy and family caregivers was conducted in a district hospital, a community health centre, two primary health care clinics and selected households in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted between June and September 2018 and the content analysis approach was used to analyse data.

Results: Two major themes and five subthemes emerged from the results of the interviews. The major themes concerned socioeconomic and psychosocial support needs related to the provision of home-based enteral nutritional therapy. Subthemes included the need for financial assistance, need for enteral nutrition products and supplementary supplies, need for infrastructure for continuity of care, and psychological support needs.

Conclusion: Results of this study confirm the need for developing strategies adapted to a South African context and yonder to meet patients' and family caregivers' needs with regard to nutritional services. More research on the identification of needs through monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of nutritional guidelines is needed, particularly in the district hospital and primary health care (PHC) setting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Maslow’s hierarchy adapted to home-based enteral nutritional therapy provision suggesting that, when no effort is made to meet lower needs, higher needs at the apex of the pyramid are seldom realised.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Silva AC, Oyama CB, Grion CM, et al. Caring for critically ill patients outside ICUs due to a full unit. Critical Care 2015; 19: 1 10.1186/s13054-014-0721-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wischmeyer PE. The evolution of nutrition in critical care: how much, how soon? Critical Care 2013; 17: 1. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Holst M and Rasmussen HH. Nutrition therapy in the transition between hospital and home: an investigation of barriers. Journal of nutrition and metabolism 2013; 2013. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Puntis J. Nutritional support at home and in the community. Archives of disease in childhood 2001; 84: 295–298. 10.1136/adc.84.4.295 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gramlich L, Hurt R, Jin J, et al. Home enteral nutrition: towards a standard of care. Nutrients 2018; 10: 1020. - PMC - PubMed