Nutrition and Hydration

Supporting someone to eat and drink involves understanding their individual needs, respecting their choices and recognising when additional help is required. This course explores the everyday responsibilities of care staff in providing nutritional support, encouraging hydration and making mealtimes comfortable and dignified. Practical examples help learners recognise concerns, follow agreed care plans and communicate changes effectively.

Training Overview

This course develops your understanding of nutrition and hydration in adult health and social care. You will explore individual dietary needs, malnutrition and dehydration risks, mealtime assistance and additional eating and drinking needs. You will also learn how to record intake accurately and report concerns within your role.

Course Information

1. Provider: Clarivive MedInsight Ltd.
2. Delivery: Online learning.
3. Level: Awareness.
4. Structure: Seven teaching modules followed by a final assessment.
5. Learning activities: Interactive components, practical scenarios and two short videos.
6. Knowledge checks: Two questions within each teaching module.
7. Final assessment: Fifteen questions based on the course content.

Course Aim

To prepare adult health and social care staff to support individual nutrition and hydration needs, recognise difficulties and take appropriate action within their responsibilities.

Course Objectives

The course will:

1. Explain nutritional foundations and factors that influence individual dietary requirements.
2. Explore everyday hydration support and recognition of reduced fluid intake.
3. Introduce malnutrition risk, nutritional screening and agreed support measures.
4. Examine practical approaches to comfortable, respectful mealtime assistance.
5. Clarify the importance of individual instructions for swallowing difficulties and additional feeding needs.
6. Develop understanding of accurate monitoring, reporting and follow-up.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1. Identify your responsibilities and the limits of your role in nutritional care.
2. Explain how nutrients, food choices and individual requirements influence nutrition.
3. Select appropriate ways to support hydration and respond to possible dehydration.
4. Recognise malnutrition concerns and describe how to support an agreed nutritional care plan.
5. Choose mealtime approaches that promote comfort, independence and dignity.
6. Recognise swallowing concerns and explain the importance of following prescribed eating and drinking instructions.
7. Distinguish routine support from situations requiring urgent help or specialist advice.
8. Record food and fluid intake accurately and communicate concerns for action and follow-up.

Who This Course Is For

This course is intended for care workers, healthcare assistants, support workers and other staff who support adults with food, drinks or mealtimes. It is relevant to care homes, domiciliary care, supported living and other adult care settings. Nurses may also use it to refresh their understanding of everyday nutritional support.

Scope and Limitations

This course covers awareness and everyday support with nutrition and hydration. Individual care plans, professional instructions and workplace procedures must guide practice.

Completion does not establish practical competence in swallowing assessment, specialist feeding, tube feeding or emergency first aid. These activities require the relevant training, authorisation and assessment of competence.

Detailed hand-hygiene procedures and food-safety practices are covered in separate courses. This course includes only essential reminders where they directly affect eating and drinking support.

Before You Begin

Work through the modules in order and complete the learning activities and knowledge checks before attempting the final assessment. Consider how each topic relates to your responsibilities and the people you support. Where an instruction or care requirement is unclear, seek clarification from the appropriate person in your workplace.