Embracing the Nutritional Assessment in Cerebral Palsy: A Toolkit for Healthcare Professionals for Daily Practice.

BACKGROUND

Nutritional status assessment (NSA) can be challenging in children with cerebral palsy (CP). There are high omission rates in national surveillance reports of weight and height information. Alternative methods are used to assess nutritional status that may be unknown to the healthcare professionals (HCP) who report these children. Caregivers experience challenges when dealing with feeding problems (FP) common in CP. Our aim was to assess the difficulties in NSA which are causing this underreport and to create solutions for registers and caregivers.

METHODS

An online questionnaire was created for registers. Three meetings with HCP and caregivers were held to discuss problems and solutions regarding NSA and intervention.

RESULTS

HCP mentioned difficulty in NSA due to a lack of time, collaboration with others, equipment, and childrens' motor impairment. Caregivers experienced difficulty in preparing nutritious meals with adapted textures. The creation of educational tools and other strategies were suggested. A toolkit for HCP was created with the weight and height assessment methods described and other for caregivers to deal with common FP.

CONCLUSIONS

There are several difficulties experienced by HCP that might be overcome with educational tools, such as a toolkit. This will facilitate nutritional assessment and intervention and hopefully reduce underreporting.