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Table 2 Examples of Abbott global partnerships for malnutrition care of older adults that align with goals of the National Blueprint: Achieving Quality Malnutrition Care for Older Adults [61]

From: Population aging: opportunity for business expansion, an invitational paper presented at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) International Workshop on Adaptation to Population Aging Issues, July 17, 2017, Ha Noi, Viet Nam

Goal 1: Improve quality of nutrition care practices for older adults

Canada: Canadian Malnutrition Task Force focused on education, data aggregation, development of best practices, and impacting policies related to malnutrition

U.S.: Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative focused on closing existing gaps in hospital-based malnutrition care through development/adoption of malnutrition electronic clinical quality measures and best practices; eQIP (Quality Improvement Program) web-based aggregate data system to collect nutrition care practice/hospital information and show areas of opportunity for quality improvement programs; Continuing education programs providing evidence-based education on malnutrition, nutrition interventions, and nutrition-focused physical assessment

Viet Nam: QIP (Quality Improvement Program) to help demonstrate value of proper malnutrition screening and interventions

Goal 2: Improve access to high quality nutrition care and services for older adults

Global: Total Nutritional Therapy hands-on clinical nutrition course for physicians and allied health professionals to help improve outcomes for geriatric patients

Viet Nam: Memoranda of Understanding partnership supporting the Ministry of Health’s effort to improve the nutritional status of Vietnamese people; Viet Nam Older Adult Health Check and Parent Companion Events offering free/comprehensive health checks and nutrition consultations to help support diet/lifestyle changes to enhance strength

Goal 3: Generate clinical research on nutrition quality of care for older adults

China: Research on the economic burden of disease-associated malnutrition; potential adverse impact of malnutrition on health/economic outcomes; malnutrition risk evaluation in hospitals

Taiwan: Research on the economic burden of disease-associated malnutrition; economic burden of malnutrition in end-stage renal disease patients on dialysis

U.S.: Nutrition Day study documenting prevalence of malnutrition in hospitals and impact on health outcomes; research on the economic burden of malnutrition at national/state levels and the economic burden of sarcopenia; study evaluating best in class protocols and effectiveness for quality improvement; survey of patient characteristics/healthcare utilization by community patients and health outcomes; establishment of interdisciplinary Center for Nutrition, Learning, and Memory in partnership with University of Illinois

Goal 4: Advance public health efforts to improve nutrition quality of care for older adults

U.S.: Defeat Malnutrition Today coalition that works to achieve recognition of malnutrition as key indicator and vital sign of older adult health risk and achieve greater focus on malnutrition through regulatory/legislative change; state malnutrition commissions to evaluate impact of malnutrition and evaluate/recommend state-level interventions; Community Malnutrition Resource Hub to provide web-based information, tools, and education resources on malnutrition for community based service providers