The Nutrition Wheel is a wipeable tool designed for use by volunteers, carers and care workers working with older people. Its aim is to identify people at risk of malnutrition through having a conversation. For people at risk, it also guides the volunteer/care worker to provide simple advice and signposting to help support the older person to improve their nutrition.
Please note that the Nutrition Wheel is a hard copy tool. If you would like us to send you a copy, please contact us.
Download the following resources to be used with the Nutrition Wheel.
- Advice sheet
- Explanatory Guide
- Nutrition FAQ
- Information for General Practice
- Development of the Nutrition Wheel
The Nutrition Wheel was developed by Wessex Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) in collaboration with Bournemouth University, the Patients Association and the Malnutrition Task Force. It is an easy-to-use, interactive version of the ‘Patients Association Nutrition Checklist’. The Nutrition Wheel can be used without training. Wessex AHSN have produced a short video showing a volunteer using the Nutrition Wheel with an older person to explain how to use it.
Nutrition Wheel orders
The Malnutrition Task Force distributes copies of the Nutrition Wheel to people working or volunteering with older people in the UK. If you are a volunteer, care worker, voluntary sector / charity organisation, or care home, and wish to use the Nutrition Wheel with older people, please contact us.
For larger organisations and bulk orders, there is a printing charge. Please contact us to enquire.
What does the Nutrition Wheel do?
In clinical practice, undernutrition should be identified using the ‘Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool’ (‘MUST’). The Nutrition Wheel has been developed primarily for use by non-clinical people who work with older people in the community who may not be accessing traditional health and social care services, such as carers, care workers and volunteers. It provides a framework for having a conversation to explore the factors that could increase someone’s risk of undernutrition in a pro-active way.
The Nutrition Wheel aims to identify whether someone is at increased risk of undernutrition by asking 4 simple questions, which are labelled 1-4 around the outer edge of the Nutrition Wheel. The 4 questions are the same questions as those found on Section A of the Patients Association Nutrition Checklist, which have been validated against 'MUST' in a research project. For more information, please visit the Patients Association Nutrition Checklist.
For people found to be at increased risk of undernutrition through using the Nutrition Wheel, there are an additional 4 questions to ask the person, which focus the discussion around the reasons the person has become undernourished or at increased risk. The Nutrition Wheel also features an 'advice window', which provides basic advice and signposting to help support the person to improve their nutrition and wellbeing.