An evaluation of the effectiveness of post-discharge telecare and home visits for malnourished adult patients admitted to acute care hospital

Individually tailored nutrition planning by a dietitian before discharge from the hospital. The content of the diet intervention before discharge involved dietary counseling to meet the deficit in protein, calorie and other nutrient intake. Oral nutrition supplements will be prescribed for patients who require them. In the intervention group, outpatient follow-ups and telephone nutrition support will be provided for 5 months. The first follow-up with a telephone call will take place 1 week after discharge from the hospital. Outpatient appointments will be scheduled at the 1st month, 3rd month and 5th month. If patients fail to turn up at the outpatient clinic, home visits will be arranged within one week of the missed appointments. Patients will not receive any home visits if they attend all their outpatient appointments. All the outpatient follow-up at the clinic and home visits will be administered a dietitian on a one-to-one basis and lasts about 30 minutes. Telephone follow-up by a dietetic assistant will be scheduled at the 2nd month, 4th month and every 2 weeks for patients who do not make improvement in oral intake.