Nutrition in palliative care: issues, perceptions and opportunities to improve care for patients

Abstract

Dietary advice, the provision of timely nutritional support and the alleviation of diet-related issues, should be an essential component of a holistic approach to palliative and end-of-life care, adjusted to account for the stage in the patient's journey, including prognosis. With an ageing population and increasing numbers of people living with not just one life-limiting disease but several, the dietary management of these patients is becoming more complex. This article considers the issues patients and families experience, how nurses can play a key role in identifying and alleviating nutrition- and diet-related issues in palliative care, including the use of tools to screen, assess and guide nutrition conversations and interventions. The content of the article is mostly drawn from the literature relating to palliative cancer care, knowledge derived from stakeholder engagement, clinical observations in a dietetic role in a hospice setting and qualitative research on the role of diet in palliative care as perceived by patients, carers, and health professionals.

Keywords: Diet; Incurable cancer; Life-limiting conditions; Malnutrition; Nutrition; Palliative care.