New Approach to a Modeling Actions of New Dietary Meals Creation

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Objective of the research is to provide a reasonable model of new meals designing for hospitals food departments. Methods On summarizing the information presented in a wide spectrum of special scientific literature, after assessing it from the perspective of practical adaptability, the original model for new dietary meals designing was presented. The model was tested in the two biggest clinical hospitals of Lithuania, then a patient survey was conducted and appropriate decisions were made. Results The model consists of the following key components: research and assessment of the patients’ needs (customs, traditions or hobbies), processing survey results (generalization of them in order to identify unified and general trends for the different groups of population and health disorders), selection and adaptation of appropriate resources according to the nature of the patients disease (according requirements of the dietary nutrition), choice of suitable processing procedures correspondingly a sufferings of the patients, calculation of the portion size (amounts of an ingredients), planning of the quality (decoration, components arrangement, equipment selection), technology description and approval by head of the department. The model was tested in Kaunas clinical hospital. Patients aged 60–70 in the pulmonology department were interviewed about nutrition. Patients had to assess quality in 10 points system. Freshness of the salads was only 7,45, although freshness was checked very carefully. By the model we found, crispness of any food always adds to the impression of freshness. So salads (beets, carrots, parsnips, celery, etc.) were supplemented with dried vegetable ingredient after conformity assessment of products’ energy value. Patients evaluated the new created meal very positively. Conclusions Use of the model reduces the failure chance and affect the decisions of new dietary meals creation. Application of the suggested model will allow food production departments in hospitals to be consistent in new dietary meals creation and increase the likelihood of their patients’ success of recovery. Funding Sources Any funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.