Medical Nutrition Therapy

Assessment

• There are ways to assess one’s overall health including biochemical, social, anthropometric and physical components.
• Lab values are critical in determining nutrition related issues. This can include hematocrit, sodium, potassium, hemoglobin, oxygen levels and others.
• Diet assessment is a way for individuals to understand the impact that their current diet has on their health. These assessments can be done using methods such as a food frequency questionnaire, 24-hour recall and food journals.

Diagnosis

• Nutrition professionals must be able to analyze all available medical and social history to diagnose the nutrition concern in order to develop an appropriate intervention.

Intervention

• There are various counseling techniques that can be used to facilitate behavior change in one’s diet. Active listening, show empathy, asking open ended questions and empowering the individual all are important concepts for one to learn.
• Many diseases have nutritional implications and patients require counseling to understand these complex issues and get a plan in action to help make sustainable changes.
• Some nutritional diagnoses require therapeutic diets in order to see results. Some of these diets may include low sodium, low fat, consistent carbohydrate, or foods that need to be avoided due to other restrictions or allergies.

Monitoring/Evaluation

• Monitoring the results is an important step to evaluate if goals are being met and determining if additional interventions may be necessary.