Planetary Health Diet in Healthcare Facilities
In the project „Planetary Health Diet in Healthcare Facilities“, Dr. Lisa M. Pörtner from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and her team are investigating the current state of food and catering services in German healthcare facilities. The project evaluates the prerequisites and obstacles to a transition towards a more climate- and environmentally friendly diet before drafting recommendations for action for institutions and policymakers.
The project is an offshoot of the NURISHD project (Nursing homes and hospital food service: implementation of sustainable and healthy diets). NURISHD aims to help drive the transition in food and catering in healthcare facilities towards climate-friendly, healthier diets. The project is examining the environmental footprint of meals and the extent to which they meet the recommendations for a healthy diet at five healthcare facilities, including one in Brandenburg. An employee survey is used to gain insights into attitudes and awareness of problems. One of the participating facilities is introducing recipes based on the Planetary Health Diet, and patients and residents are being surveyed to find out how well the recipes are received.
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Thanks to the offshoot project „Planetary Health Diet in Healthcare Facilities“, additional qualitative interviews with experts can now be conducted. The project consults experts who are involved in selecting the form of catering provided or in making decisions in the five facilities taking part in the study. This means their attitudes and motivations, as well as potential obstacles and solutions for a change process, can be identified. Based on this, the project drafts recommendations for action for healthcare facilities and policymakers.
DThe project findings are highly relevant for all German healthcare facilities because food services and supply chains are very similar across the sector due to the uniformity of cost structures. A guide for more climate-friendly and healthier food and catering in healthcare facilities is also being published.