UK Malnutrition Awareness Week 2020
Key highlights
This October, we had the pleasure of partnering with the Malnutrition Task Force (MTF) for the third time to host UK Malnutrition Awareness Week (UKMAW) 2020! Although the week fell at an incredibly difficult time for everyone, a huge number of organisations and individuals were still able to get involved, be that virtually or in person. We are immensely grateful that so many were able to join us in raising awareness, on top of all of their already demanding commitments. It’s been a tricky time to muster enthusiasm for ‘extras’ amidst such trying circumstances, so it is wonderful that everyone took to the campaign with such vim.
For the first time this year, we hosted a UKMAW parliamentary drop-in event, sponsored by Sir David Amess, MP for Southend West. BAPEN, the MTF and the British Dietetics Association (BDA) teamed up to welcome a dozen MPs and peers with a wide range of interests to discuss the aims of UKMAW and the ways that they could make changes at a constituency and national level. The virtual format worked well, allowing for intimate conversations with members from each organisation and a visual presentation full of key facts about the problem of malnutrition in the UK. We are delighted that the attendees were so open to our message, and that so many pledged their commitment to take further action.
Our Malnutrition Action Group’s (MAG) Survey once again opened for UK Malnutrition Awareness Week and remained open for the whole of October. We had fantastic uptake and engagement. The survey was completed in all settings across the devolved nations, looking into both malnutrition and nutritional care interventions. Data on nutrition in the UK in the year of the COVID-19 outbreak is extremely valuable. The hard work of MAG should enable us to give year on year updates, and better inform others of the nutritional state of the nation.
It is wonderful that Malnutrition Awareness Week has now become an international event, and we were delighted to run our campaign concurrently with the Canadian Nutrition Society (CNS) and The North American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). We partnered with both organisations on the 7th for a webinar entitled ‘Learning from COVID-19: The Value of Nutrition Across the Care Spectrum’, a fascinating exploration of issues around the provision of optimum nutritional care to those with COVID-19 in different care settings. We extend our thanks to both for this valuable partnership.
Virtually bound as 2020 has been, our social media platforms came to particular prominence this year. Excitingly, we set up a UKMAW Instagram channel which we ran together with the MTF. With the support of several brilliant student ambassadors, we engaged the Instagram community with a visual cornucopia of UKMAW messages. There were once again plenty of #MAWConversations selfies across all platforms, presenting a wide array of issues and questions that people think need to be discussed more openly and more regularly.
Each day of the week had a theme, be it #ThirstyThursday or #SurveySunday. Our message on #MUSTMonday that the ‘MUST’ tool should be used routinely in health and social care settings was particularly popular. #WellbeingWednesday was also a brilliant chance to spread awareness of the social factors which can contribute to an increased risk of malnutrition.
Another great addition to the campaign this year was a partnership with media doctor Dr Amir Khan, who used his wide-reaching social platforms to raise awareness of malnutrition with members of the public and GPs alike. He also featured in much of the news coverage the week received, with particularly informative pieces on the likes of BBC Radio Leeds. It was good to hear listeners contacting their stations about malnutrition in response to the coverage; the week’s message clearly resonated with the broader public.
Overall, the campaign was a huge success once again, and UKMAW has gained further traction not only amongst the public and professionals, but also with our elected officials. We hope that next year UKMAW will continue to grow. We know that we will only achieve this with your ongoing support. So, thank you, and do keep up the tremendous work you do.