Sam Shah discusses the HEE supported project exploring hydration, nutrition and mouthcare in hospital and community care settings. The project involves training staff and raising awareness to improve the quality of care, to help avoid admission and to support discharge. The insights from this project will be shared at the BGS Spring Meeting in Gateshead on the 28th April at 9:30-11:00.
We are all accustomed to brushing our own teeth and cleaning our mouths, it’s entrenched in the daily routines of most people. Most of us are able to eat and drink ourselves and we understand the link between what we eat and our how our bodies respond. A big challenge in the care of frail older people, and those in high needs settings, is ensuring their hydration, nutrition and mouthcare needs are supported. Continue reading
Cast your mind back to when you opened your eyes this morning. Then think of how your mouth felt at that time; I bet it was dry, uncomfortable, had a horrible taste and you most likely felt some plaque roughening the surfaces of your teeth. Now think about how your mouth would feel if you hadn’t brushed your teeth after waking up. Or you didn’t brush them for a week after, or even a few weeks after. Your mouth and teeth will now almost certainly feel dirty, odorous, uncomfortable and in turn it may affect your confidence and well being. This is what happens to dependant elderly people far too regularly than we would like to admit. These are the people whose personal care, including their hair care, foot care, nails care and continence care is being delivered as part of their overall support. Yet there is often one part of personal care which is frequently overlooked- the mouth. 
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Dileep Lobo is Professor of Gastrointestinal Surgery at the University of Nottingham and Consultant Hepatopancreaticobiliary Surgeon at Queen’s Medical Centre. In this blog, he discusses 
British Geriatrics Society 