Dr. Eileen Wong was a recent winner at the 2022 Quality Forum. She shares the behind-the-scenes perspective of her award-winning quality improvement presentation, which included help from the team at Holy Family Hospital:
Prior to COVID-19, the staff at Holy Family Hospital long-term care had special events like outdoor barbecues, and different special breakfasts to break up the monotony of daily routines for the residents and to give them a different food experiences.
To improve the daily food experience, the HFH LTC team, led by Dr. Eileen Wong (Medical Coordinator) and assisted by registered dietitian, Ariel Seah, conducted a quality improvement project that saw them collecting data from the menu slips to determine if interventions like lipped plates to assist residents in self-feeding, or switching lunch and dinner portion sizes made a difference.
Ariel Seah, registered dietitian.
COVID-19 hit HFH LTC hard in June 2020 and the project was interrupted. The mandated isolation of the residents to eat alone in their rooms during this outbreak highlighted the social value found in eating together with others in the dining room. Group gatherings were no longer possible.
Despite these hurdles and after more than a year’s delay, Dr. Wong was able to get the data analyzed by Dr. Enrique Fernandez-Ruiz (project advisor) to present in a storyboard presentation at the recent BC Quality Forum and the team’s efforts were recognized by being awarded Storyboard Winner.
Dr. Eileen Wong with her poster and award.
The posterboard, “Food – Medicine for the Soul ,” was chosen as one of six winners out of 95 poster submissions, all reviewed by a panel of judges. So, indeed, it is a great honour!
Congratulations to the HFH LTC team and special thanks to the RCAs who helped to collect the data!
