Placemats promoting healthy living

Nutrition and hydration play an important part in rehabilitation and the team on the ward are committed to ensuring patients receive the best care they can in this area.

Donna Phillips, Clinical Educator for Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS) said: “On Scotter Ward we are always looking for innovative ways to get health messages across to our patients and as our meal times are protected, with patients encouraged to eat together, the placemats were the perfect educational tool.

“We find that this encourages social interaction and builds relationships between patients which helps them maintain some normality and independence ensuring they’re not just the ‘patient at the bedside”

A local community group contributed to the programme with members of a young carers group colouring in the ‘healthy eating plates’ including personal messages to the patients.

The placemats have also been used as a way of promoting awareness weeks and at times such as Christmas they are used as a way of sending good wishes from the staff on the ward.

Donna added “The feedback from the patients is extremely positive and the placemats are often a source of conversation between them.”

The idea has been shared with the Trust’s inpatient governance group and it has been adopted in other community hospitals within LCHS.