A home meal delivery program is helping at risk patients experience a simpler road to recovery.
Flavor Harvest@HOME is a medical nutrition therapy program designed for patients who are malnourished or with a potential to become malnourished because of their medical condition.
The program provides freshly prepared and frozen meals to homebound patients requiring treatment or having been treated at Lee Memorial Health System. Meals are individually packed, microwaveable and ready to eat either hot or cold.
Each meal is specifically tailored for each patient to make sure it meets the requirements of each patient's diet.
Larry Altier with Lee Memorial says nutrition support at home can prevent readmission, cost of care, and is a low cost approach to improving patients health.
The program comes after one patient asked if hospital meals could be delivered to his home while he recovered. The hospital did a little research and found that patients 65 or older are often at risk for malnutrition, and some studies have shown that as many as 1 in 3 patients are at risk for malnutrition upon admission.
Candidates meeting 2 of the 6 criteria are eligible for the nutritional intervention program - Flavor Harvest@HOME. Patients identified as "at risk" will receive the appropriate meals on a weekly basis for up to 4 weeks post discharge at no charge.
Patients are specifically assessed for:
1. Insufficient energy intake
2. Weight Loss
3. Loss of subcutaneous fat
4. Loss of muscle mass
5. Localized or generalized fluid accumulation
6. Diminished functional status
