Health Call Undernutrition Lunch Clubs County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

Social isolation, loneliness and undernutrition are both causes and consequences of each other, and are linked with poor quality of life and clinical outcomes. 

Health Call Undernutrition is a digitally enabled care pathway for those at risk of undernutrition that is used in Darlington to enable patients to provide information about their nutritional health remotely. However, some patients are unable to use this technology for a variety of reasons, including poor eyesight or cognitive impairment. 

This project involved partnering with the third sector to engage patients with this intervention, specifically those who are at risk of undernutrition and are socially isolated or lonely. 

These patients attended Age UK Darlington lunch clubs, which provide social interaction and a nutritious meal. Age UK volunteers monitored the weight of attendees and used the Health Call Undernutrition app to record the information. This was then available to clinicians, who could respond directly to any issues.

During the project, 27 patients attended the lunch clubs. Over half of them gained weight and there was no significant weight loss. 

The clubs provided an innovative way of bridging the gap between health and social care, and the team found that cultural and organisational differences between the sectors could be overcome with open and honest communication.

This project has shown that lunch clubs are an acceptable setting for patients to receive health care interventions, and it is a replicable model that could be implemented in other areas. Although the lunch clubs with undernutrition monitoring won’t be able to continue in the current format, Age UK will continue to run the clubs and volunteers will recommend GP appointments to initiate dietetic referral where needed.

Contact information

For more information about this project, please contact Catherine McShane, Project Manager, Dietitian, Darlington Memorial Hospital.