Patients Association Nutrition Checklist
The Patients Association Nutrition Checklist is a simple and easy to use questionnaire first published in December 2018. It helps to identify undernutrition in older people and aims to address the associated risks by offering guidance, advice and signposting for patients and staff working in health and social care.
How does it work?
The Patients Association Nutrition Checklist can be used in a wide range of settings to raise awareness of the risks of malnutrition and direct people to practical nutrition advice quickly and safely.
Our video demonstrates exactly how to use the checklist, as well as the key questions to ask an older person you may be concerned about and what appropriate action to take if someone is identified as being at risk:
Is it effective?
A 2019 study has shown that the Patients Association Nutrition Checklist indicated acceptable agreement compared to 'MUST' screening in identifying risk of malnutrition. It also demonstrated potential for early identification of malnutrition risk in the community, including signposting to basic dietary advice and appropriate health and social care support.
Many organisations that we have worked with have embedded the checklist into their work and are routinely using this with the older people that they work with. You can view our Training and screening implementation guide to learn about how this tool can be implemented.