HNUT40070 Nutritional Intervention for an Elderly Cancer Survivor – A Case Study, Assignment 1

Case Study Assignment

Katherine is an 84-year-old woman, living alone, who enjoys spending time with her siblings, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who live nearby. Katherine minds the younger grandchildren three times a week after school. On the weekends, she attends her grandchildren’s sports matches, often spending a few hours outside socializing with family and friends. In the house, Katherine is independent and does all house-related chores herself, including driving and shopping.

About 6 months ago, Katherine was diagnosed with breast cancer. Following her diagnosis, she underwent chemotherapy treatment over the course of the last 4 months. During her chemotherapy treatment, Katherine experienced nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite, which led to weight loss, a change in her typical routine, and spending more time at home. To help with her change in lifestyle, Katherine’s family prepared nutrient-dense, energy-dense meals for her to eat while she was recovering from treatment.

Now, Katherine is done with treatment and is cancer-free. However, she is struggling to re-engage in her usual activities and is still experiencing changes with her appetite and energy levels. Katherine is spending more time at home and is not as physically or socially active as she used to be. Katherine has gotten fewer meals from family in the past few weeks and isn’t cooking for herself as much as she used to. Following a recent visit to her doctor, she has been referred to the clinic nutritionist (you) to help get back on track.

You start by taking a case history, a brief 24-hour recall, and then take anthropometric measures, which you compare against her last recorded anthropometrics on file.

24th Jan 2025 – 24-hour recall for Katherine

• Breakfast 9am: Mug of tea with two sugars and milk. Two slices of white toast with butter.
• Snack 2pm: 4 cream crackers and 2 easy singles cheese slices. Mug of tea with two sugars and milk.
• Dinner 4pm: Supermarket cottage pie ready meal. Glass of 7up.
• Snack 7pm: Vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce.

Katherine says she struggles to get enough fluid and often forgets to drink water.

Katherine’s Anthropometrics

Assignment Questions

1. Based on Katherine’s current profile, calculate her daily energy requirements and requirements for 5 critical nutrients (of your choice). Provide a reason for selecting each of the 5 nutrients you consider critical in Katherine’s diet. (20 marks)
2. Create a 3-day sample menu that will meet Katherine’s energy and nutrient needs. (20 marks)
3. What are your primary diet/lifestyle concerns with respect to Katherine? With reference to research, provide a rationale to justify two diet/lifestyle concerns given Katherine’s case and discuss evidence-based advice and/or changes you would make to her diet/lifestyle (for each of the two main concerns) to get her back on track and prevent any further health issues.Hint: We expect you to refer to original research papers and systematic reviews, not only narrative review papers. Think critically and discuss only two diet/lifestyle concerns as specified in the question – do not try to include everything in the hope that you will hit the mark with something. Make informed decisions based on the research evidence and knowledge that you can potentially have an impact.

Formatting Your Case Study Report

Your case study report should be typed and formatted as follows: size 12 Calibri text, justified (text should be aligned as it is in this document) with 1.15 line spacing. Please use the Harvard or Vancouver reference styles when referring to published research (see tutorials on UCD library website for further details). The case study report should be no more than 5 pages in total (excluding the reference list).

Answers should be well-structured and clearly presented, should convey knowledge of the subject area, and must show evidence of external reading and critical thinking. Please use numbers to indicate which question (1-3) your writing refers to (marks will be deducted if we cannot tell by a quick glance that you have answered each question).

Submission Details

You are required to submit the final document to BrightSpace assignments before midnight on the 9th of March 2025. Late submissions will be penalized according to UCD Policy.

Note: Your results for this module will be available at the end of the UCD trimester in line with all Spring trimester modules. I will discuss questions related to the assignment and provide feedback during the live online classes or using the discussion board on BrightSpace. You can email nutlifecycle@ucd.ie at the end of Spring trimester to request individual feedback on your submitted assignment.