Nutrition and Ethics: Are They Going to Starve?

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This webinar was presented live on May 8, 2024.

Artificially administered nutrition and hydration (AANH) is a life-saving measure for many people. However, AANH has been at the center of well-known legal cases. This webinar will review the role of AANH in different medical scenarios, its benefit versus risk, and how the registered dietitian nutritionist can apply this knowledge to everyday case scenarios.

CPE Level: 2
CPEU: 1.0 (valid until May 8, 2027)

Performance Indicators:

• 11.2.11 Assesses cognitive and physical attributes that affect nutrition- related tasks (e.g., self-feeding and other activities of daily living [ADLs]) and instrumental ADLs (e.g., shopping and food preparation).
• 11.2.12 Gathers information that affects intake and nutrition and health status (e.g., cultural, ethnic, religious, lifestyle influencers, psychosocial, and social determinants of health).
• 11.4.4 Considers client/patient factors, nutritional impacts, indications, side effects, contraindications, benefits, risks, alternatives and foundational sciences when prescribing, recommending or administering nutrition-related drug therapy.

Learning Objectives

• Summarize position papers' stances on artificially administered nutrition and hydration (AANH) in different medical scenarios.
• List the 4 principles of medical ethics and key AANH legal cases.
• Apply knowledge to case studies.

Speaker

Stephanie Dobak, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC

Stephanie Dobak is a clinical dietitian at the Jefferson Weinberg ALS center in Philadelphia, PA. Prior to her position at the ALS Center, Stephanie was the nutrition liaison for the palliative care team at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. In this role, she provided insight into challenging cases involving nutrition support at the end of life. She has authored multiple publications and presented nationally on the topic of nutrition and ethics. Her current research relates to advanced care planning in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as ALS.