Annual Report 2024
Nutrition Management Office
Haruka Chitose, Aya Omae, Minami Sato, Megumi Morikawa, Akiko Onozawa, Ayano Shimura, Saki Fukumori, Momoko Shioda,, Maho Sugawara, Yuki Mizukawa
Introduction
Nutritional counseling at the Patient Support Research and Development Center has been enriched by multi-occupational collaboration and we are able to respond promptly to sudden requests at any time. The number of nutritional counseling sessions from April 2024 to March 2025 increased after an active response to outpatient nutritional diet guidance during the esophageal cancer perioperative period. Group nutrition dietary guidance for inpatients after colorectal cancer and EMR surgery and outpatient nutrition classes have also been well received by users. The Nutrition Support Team (NST) had 1,360 new interventions, with a monthly average of 113 (Table 1). The Nutrition Management Office provided 430,827 meals in total. The number of nutritional counseling sessions was 3,713, and of group guidance sessions was 482.
Table 1. Number of NST consultations from April 2024 to March 2025
The Team and What We Do
We conduct research on improving the nutrition and dietary environment of cancer patients aiming to disseminate information such as proposals of menu preparations for home care patients, and hints for preventing malnutrition. Collaborative research continues to improve the precision of meal support in accordance with changes in the meal preferences of cancer patients.
Education
We accepted trainees from 10 training schools (10 schools; 12 groups) for registered dietitians and provided practical training that was performed in cooperation with universities as part of human resource development. We usually conduct training sessions for both in-hospital and external staff to support the acquisition of the NST Certified Therapist qualification. However, due to the lack of a sufficient training staff structure this term, the program was not implemented.
As part of our educational efforts in cancer treatment and nutrition, we served as lecturers in various sessions conducted both inside and outside the hospital, contributing to the advancement of clinical knowledge and interdisciplinary collaboration. We actively encouraged and supported staff in obtaining professional certifications, including NST Certified Therapist, Certified Clinical Nutritionist for Disease Management, Certified Clinical Nutritionist for Cancer Care, and Certified Diabetes Educator of Japan.
Future Prospects
In the food service, thorough hygiene control and the provision of safe meals are given top priority. In addition, we will arrange more regional cuisine, which we have recently started offering. We will also strive to provide more varied meals than in the previous fiscal year, such as by enhancing the menu. Regarding clinical nutrition support, we will strengthen the perioperative nutrition meal guidance for elderly people, the nutrition management in the intensive care units, and the team medical care, including frequent nutritional support during chemotherapy, and contribute to improving the QOL of the patients.