Overview

All staff involved in the care of vulnerable adults should be able to recognise when a person is not eating or drinking properly and should be aware of basic food safety. This course gives advice in the form of real work scenarios to help the learner to put the knowledge into practice.

Audience

This course is aimed at:

New members of staff in Healthcare Support Worker roles

New members of staff in Adult Social Care Worker roles

Any staff members who provide direct care to patients or individuals needing support

This course will also be useful for:

Staff moving into new roles within their organisation

Refreshing the knowledge of any member of staff

About this course

This course contains six bite-sized modules that use practice-based scenarios, videos and engaging questions to bring the subject to life.

The six modules are:

Describe the importance of food safety

The importance of good nutrition and hydration

Signs and symptoms of poor nutrition and hydration

Promoting adequate nutrition and hydration

Support individuals to have access to fluids in accordance with their plan of care

Support individuals to have access to food and nutrition in accordance with their plan of care

Each module takes between five and ten minutes to complete; the modules that contain video clips take a little longer. The knowledge element of standard 8 of the Care Certificate is covered in this course. 

Objectives

In this course you will learn: 

Why you should wash your hands before preparing food

What might make food unpalatable or dangerous to eat

How to ensure that food is safe to eat

The importance of food and hydration in maintaining health

What makes a healthy diet

What role fluids play in the body

How to recognise when someone is not well nourished

How to recognise when someone is dehydrated

What to do in cases of severe dehydration

The reasons why a person might be poorly nourished or hydrated

How to encourage good hydration

What you should do when supporting individuals to have access to fluids

What you should do when supporting individuals to have access to food

Content

Here are some of the topics covered in this course:

The importance of food safety| The importance of good nutrition and hydration| What is a balanced diet?: How much water a person should drink| Signs of malnutrition | Signs of dehydration| Why a person might not eat or drink| The importance of the care plan.