Nutrition and Hydration in Palliative Care

Nutrition and Hydration in Palliative Care is organized by Ausmed Education Pty Ltd.

First Published: 04 December 2013
Updated: 25 February 2023
Expires: 26 February 2025

Course Overview:
This Course uses a holistic framework to explore the reasons why appropriate nutrition and hydration in palliative care are important.

The broad nutritional needs of the person approaching the end of life are addressed, along with practical suggestions for how health professionals can accurately assess and provide for these needs.

Need:
A person requiring palliative care often presents with fragility and general weakness. During an assessment, they may describe difficulties with their appetite, diet, and fluid intake. Readily observable changes in their appearance might also be evident.

In order to address the tenet of comfort for the individual, and to subsequently meet the individual’s daily comfort needs, it is critical that healthcare professionals accurately assess and manage these changes.

Decisions in relation to the nutritional and hydration needs of a person can then be made together with the person approaching the end of life, their caregiver, and other members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team.

Purpose:
The purpose of this Course is to reinforce a range of key considerations relating to nutrition and hydration when a person requires palliative care.

Topics:
• The role of nutrition in palliative care
• Hydration and nutritional assessment
• Ethical dilemmas in palliative care
• Signs and symptoms of imminent death

Learning Outcomes:
• State the major tenet of palliative care and how this relates to nutrition and hydration.
• Describe the assessment of a person for nutrition and hydration requirements, clearly differentiating between malnutrition and dehydration, and hunger and thirst.
• Describe practical ways to ensure appropriate and timely nutrition and hydration are administered to a person at the end of life.

1.1 CPD