“Nutrition counseling over the phone. How can this work? Without our usual visual aids, food models, measuring cups, and charts demonstrating sugar amounts in common foods and beverages, will we still be able to educate our patients? The answer is – yes!
“We all know how difficult it is to recall what we’ve done in the past 24 hours, much less every detail about what we have eaten and when. Since beginning our telephone nutrition visits, some of us have found that while standing in their own kitchens, patients are even better able to remember what they have consumed. One of our patients was able to go into her refrigerator and describe not only the foods that she had eaten, but portion sizes based on what she had remaining. She talked through the stock in her kitchen, and nutrition label demonstrations were done using the food that she had in her own home. She jokingly admitted to ‘having the evidence right in front of her.’
“Over the phone, we can talk our patient through ways to use the food they have, without panicking over the need to go out and buy all new items. This has been a great deal during the current pandemic.”
