Spotlight on Malnutrition

Spotlight on Malnutrition Month 2021

Malnutrition is a serious condition that must be addressed quickly and comprehensively. Throughout September the Academy will raise awareness of malnutrition and promote the crucial role of registered dietitian nutritionists in identifying and treating this condition.

The Academy's Clinical Malnutrition webpage contains information on the Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative and provides Malnutrition Resources from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics as well as Malnutrition Resources from other Organizations.

MQii Videos

Learn more about MQii by watching the following MQii videos:

• Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative – Advancing Patient-Driven Care
• Expanding MQii Across the Continuum of Care
• MQii Leadership Message
• MQii Success Stories
• RDN Call to Action: MQii

CPE Opportunities

Use the links below to view recorded sessions from the Academy's collection of malnutrition topics.

• Nutrition Focused Physical Exam Hands-on Training Workshop (Live Virtual)
  The workshop provides the RDN with the skills to perform an NFPE, empowering the RDN to accurately identify and provide a nutrition diagnosis of malnutrition for patients. Workshops are available across the country with the focus on the adult or pediatric population.
• Screening for Feeding Dysfunction in Children: Identifying More Than Malnutrition Risk
• Malnutrition Focus at FNCE^® 2021
  Sessions
  Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes: How NFPE Can Strengthen Your Pediatric Malnutrition Diagnosis
  Malnutrition Matters! Latest Evidence for Nutrition Assessment and Interventions for Older Adults

Posters

Determining Malnutrition Status in the Heart Patient Population
Malnutrition and Nutrition Impact Symptoms in Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Malnutrition in Gynaecology Cancer Patients
Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative (MQii) Learning Collaborative Institutions Offer Insights on Telehealth Nutrition Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Sepsis, Malnutrition, and Hospital Readmission Risk

Learn more and register for FNCE^®

Quickinars

PRACTICE TIPS: RDNs Evaluate Performance Systems and Processes Using Quality Improvement

Spotlight on Malnutrition Month 2021 Social Media Assets

Please use the social media assets below to help raise awareness for Spotlight on Malnutrition Month throughout September.

September is Spotlight on Malnutrition Month		Join the ACT now for MNT Campaign
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Malnutrition Resources are Available		What is MQii
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Become an Advocate!

Malnutrition is one of the many elements that would be addressed with the passage of the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act. Passage of this bill would be a win-win for our profession and our communities: Academy members would receive more opportunities for reimbursement while also addressing the gap in care for our country's seniors who only have access to MNT for diabetes and renal disease – a crucial step needed to achieve health equity for racial and ethnic minority populations.

Join the Academy's ACT now for MNT campaign to keep the momentum going on this important issue by taking the following three steps:

1. Action alert for the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act
2. Contribute $5 to ANDPAC to support the advancement of the MNT Act and other key Academy policy initiatives
3. Tell five people (friends, colleagues, clients) to "ACT now for MNT" by sharing the public action alert

Once you have completed these tasks, use the ACT now for MNT social media toolkit to help spread the word!

Spotlight on Malnutrition Month Resource Collection

The eatrightSTORE has a dedicated section on malnutrition.

Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Articles

Use the links below to view the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics collections available on malnutrition:

• Development and Evaluation of a Global Malnutrition Composite Score
• Monitoring Rates of Malnutrition Risk in Outpatient Cancer Centers Utilizing the Malnutrition Screening Tool Embedded into the Electronic Health Record
• Tool Comprehensive Application of the Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative (MQII) Toolkit to Pediatric Malnutrition Care kit to Pediatric Malnutrition Care
• Improving Malnutrition in Hospitalized Older Adults: The Development, Optimization, and Use of a Supportive Toolkit
• Assessing the Concurrent Validity and Interrater Reliability of Patient-Led Screening Using the Malnutrition Screening Tool in the Ambulatory Cancer Care Outpatient Setting
• Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food Insecurity in the United States
• Food Insecurity, Dietary Quality, and HealthCare Utilization in Lower-Income Adults A Cross-Sectional Study
• Food Insecurity Articles in Press, June 2, 2021 Letters to the Editor
• Building the evidence base by testing innovative strategies to reduce food insecurity in the United States: findings from the evaluation of demonstration projects to end childhood hunger
• To Support All: Diversity and Inclusion
• Taking Action: Increasing Efforts to Promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
• Revitalizing our Strategic Plan—and Ourselves

The Foundation's Malnutrition Research Efforts

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation and dollars raised through its Second Century Member Campaign have funded essential research in the area of malnutrition, including the Academy and ASPEN Indicators to diagnose malnutrition. AAIM is a landmark research project being conducted in 120 pediatric and adult hospital sites in the United States that tests the validity of the Malnutrition Clinical Characteristics diagnostic tool and seeks to develop an RDN staffing model that optimizes nutrition care of hospitalized patients. Special thanks goes to the Commission on Dietetic Registration and the Pediatric Nutrition, Clinical Nutrition Management and Renal Dietitians Practice Groups for their generous support of this project.

Another significant study is the Unintended Weight Loss in Older Adults funded by the Dietetics in Healthcare Communities Dietetic Practice Group. This project will result in two systematic reviews focused on assessment of malnutrition in older adults as well as effective interventions for these individuals. Evidence-based practice recommendations will be derived from the systematic reviews for RDNs to use in the treatment and prevention of malnutrition for older adults living in the community or in long term care settings. More information on all the Foundation's research initiatives can be found here.

The Foundation also annually recognizes Academy members who are working in a hospital setting and making significant contributions to improve awareness of malnutrition and taking action to address the issue with its Abbott Nutrition Malnutrition Award. The four 2021 Abbott Nutrition Malnutrition Award winners are highlighted here.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is an official ambassador of ASPEN's Malnutrition Awareness Week^™, October 4-8. Malnutrition Awareness Week is a mark of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Used with permission from ASPEN.