Health and social care professionals in the city have worked to create a simple and effective tool that can spot the early signs of malnutrition and help to prevent hospital admissions.
Together they created the PaperWeight Armband, which is a strip of paper that works by measuring the circumference of a person’s bare upper arm.
If it can slide up and down the arm easily, and measures less than 23.5cm, it is likely that Body Mass Index (BMI) is less than 20 kg/m2, which indicates a high risk of malnutrition.
Once a risk is identified, support and advice is given, and the early intervention reduces the chances of being admitted to hospital.
Kirstine Farrer, consultant dietitian at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Malnutrition is a major cause and consequence of poor health and older people are particularly vulnerable. It is a condition that frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated, with one in 10 older people suffering from or at risk of malnutrition in the UK.
“It can lead to more hospital admissions and re-admissions, longer hospital stays and greater healthcare needs, which means the cost of malnutrition can spiral out of control.
“So what we have done is gone back to basics to help improve diagnosis and ultimately help save lives. Rather than rely on a BMI chart and scales we have stripped it back to another level. It is a simple strip of paper that is an effective, non-medical, non-intrusive tool that can also help cut costs associated with treating the condition.”
Last year, it was revealed the number of hospital admissions due to malnutrition had shot up by more than a third in the last five years across Greater Manchester.
Elderly people were the most vulnerable to the condition with the greatest number of admissions in the over sixties for men and the over fifties for women.
The cost for disease-related malnutrition for health and social care expenditure is more than £13 billion according to BAPEN, a charitable association that raises awareness of malnutrition, but improving the identification and treatment of malnutrition is estimated to have the third highest potential to deliver cost savings to the NHS.
Support workers at Age UK Salford have piloted the PaperWeight Armband on home visits along with advice on how to stay healthy with a supporting nutrition booklet, and the results showed that service users gained weight, made improvements to their diet and enjoyed eating again.
Chief executive of Age UK Salford, Dave Haynes, said: “There has never been a more urgent need for health care providers and commissioners to act and address the problem of malnutrition. Needless suffering, neglect and inconsistent standards of dignity are unacceptable. Malnutrition is a major cause and consequence of poor health and older people are particularly vulnerable, and Age UK Salford is pleased to be pioneering a new way of helping fight malnutrition with the PaperWeight Armband.”
More than 3,000 armbands have already been handed out in the borough and now the PaperWeight Armband is set to be rolled out across the country. MP Barbara Keeley is also supporting the launch of the product to help older people in Salford.
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