“Meal realities” — An ethnographic exploration of hospital mealtime environment and practice

Aim To explore and understand patterns of mealtime culture, environment and social practice from the perspective of staff, volunteers and visitors on the hospital ward. Background Inadequate food intake is a common and complex problem in hospital and can lead to malnutrition. Mealtime interventions have been implemented to address this problem with limited success. A better understanding of mealtime environment and practice is needed to...