Home Nutrition Support Team

Our physician led, multidisciplinary, home nutrition support team consists of highly trained and skilled dietitians, pharmacists, and nurses to support patients requiring specialized nutrition therapy in the home.  If you rely on enteral nutrition or parenteral nutrition (TPN) therapy to meet your nutrition requirements, you can ensure the best outcomes and oversight with the New England Life Care Home Nutrition Support Team.

• Our nutrition support dietitians hold advanced credentials, and many are board certified in Nutrition Support, Diabetes, and Oncology Nutrition.  We are committed to our patients, and focus on advanced training to provide skilled oversight and management for nutrition therapy needs.

• Our experienced Nutrition Support Clinicians are an extension of the patient care team.  When nutrition therapy begins in the home, we collaborate closely with our patients, care givers, and health care providers to provide personalized, safe, and effective care.  Our dedicated nutrition team supports each patient to meet their individualized therapy goals while optimizing quality of life.

• The New England Life Care Home Nutrition Support Team focuses on managing patients throughout the care continuum.  We collaborate with the inpatient care team to successfully transition our patients from the hospital to home.  Our focus is to decrease hospital length of stay and avoid hospital admissions.  When appropriate, we partner with the patient care team and follow national guidelines to initiate either enteral nutrition or parenteral nutrition in the home setting.

What is Nutrition Support?

Diseases of the gastrointestinal track, inability to swallow (dysphagia), or other diagnoses preventing the oral ingestion or absorption of adequate nutrition often lead to malnutrition.  Specialized nutrition support can be administered using alternative methods to support nutrition needs, and is often referred to as either enteral nutrition or total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

• Enteral Nutrition: Many different conditions can cause people to lose their appetite or ability to swallow adequate food for an extended period of time.  Someone who cannot consume enough food or drink for an extended period of time and has a functioning gastrointestinal track may benefit from enteral nutrition therapy.  Enteral nutrition therapy is administered through a feeding tube.  Once the feeding tube is placed, specialized nutrition formula is administered to provide well balanced nutrition. 

• Parenteral Nutrition or Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN): Many different conditions can cause temporary or permanent disease of the gastrointestinal track. This can prevent a person from absorbing and digesting adequate nutrition to sustain an adequate state of health.  Parenteral nutrition is a highly specialized and custom form of IV nutrition support that is delivered into the blood stream through a catheter into a vein. Parenteral nutrition provides complete and balanced nutrition by providing carbohydrates, protein, fat, electrolytes, vitamins and minerals.