Nutritional Rehabilitation and Early Re-feeding of the Severely Malnourished Patient

This product is free for BHN members.

This webinar was presented live on November 2, 2022.

Eating Disorders are a serious illness that present both medically and psychiatrically, posing the highest death rate of any psychiatric disorder. This presentation explores the role of nutrition in medical stabilization, weight restoration and improved cognitive function in severely malnourished individuals. It will shine light on medical complications that can arise from severe and extreme eating disorders, how these complications impact the holistic patient treatment experience, and provide education on appropriate medical nutrition therapy to help patients heal from these medical complications, including the use of enteral and parenteral nutrition. In addition to reviewing evidence-based dietary interventions, content seeks to foster a better understanding of how restoring nutritional status promotes readiness for the psychological aspects of eating disorder treatment.

CPEU: 1.0
CPE Level: 2
Performance Indicators: 4.1, 8.1, 10.2, 10.3

Learning Objectives

1. Initiate and employ the refeeding process in an inpatient setting for a severely malnourished patient
2. Define medical complications that can arise in severely malnourished patients, as well as how to utilize medical nutrition therapy to treat them
3. Recognize instances when nutrition support can be appropriate in eating disorder patients, as well as pros and cons for nutrition support and the impact of nutrition on therapeutic engagement

Speakers

Meghan Foley, RD, CEDS-S

Meghan became a registered dietitian in 2011, after completing her undergraduate degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Penn State University followed by her dietetic internship at the Virginia/Maryland WIC Program. She moved to Denver in 2013, where she became an RD working for Denver Health Medical Center in all areas in the hospital, gaining additional experience in treating multiple disease states, as well as experience in nutrition support. In 2014, she was provided the opportunity to work full time for the ACUTE Center for Eating Disorders by Denver Health. She currently is the Nutrition Services Supervisor for ACUTE and continues to cover a clinical caseload as part of her job responsibilities. Her five years at ACUTE have allowed her the opportunity to become an expert in using medical nutrition therapy to help treat severe eating disorders and work on research projects with Dr. Philip Mehler and other members of the multidisciplinary team.

Debra Spector
Provider Relationship Manager