The terrible food in hospitals has long been one of the greatest contradictions in health care. Over the past few years, several doctors have spoken out about the lack of healthy food options and how frustrating it can be to tell their patients to make dietary changes, only to have that guidance undermined by the very hospital treating their patients.But now, some hospitals are taking note.

    Across the country, medical centers are hiring executive chefs, working closely with nutritionists and dietitians, and striving to ensure that patients with a wide range of dietary needs and restrictions are getting not only the nourishment they need while in the hospital, but the information they need to keep from coming back.

    Hospital malnutrition affects 30-50% of patients worldwide, according to a September 2019 study published in the Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

    How to prioritize healthy food is a question that chef Christopher Dickens at Southeast Health in Alabama is also asking as the hospital and the food facilities go through a ground-up renovation that’s putting healthier options at the forefront.

    “Our patients can’t choose where they are, how they feel. They just don’t have a lot of choice,” Dickens said. “If we don’t do everything in our power to make sure that’s a great experience, then shame on us.” He explained that the hospital is trying to move away from processed foods, refined sugars, and excess oil “so that we can produce a product that truly helps our patient, and our community and our staff, with overall health.” Dickens continued. “People have their preconceived notions of what hospital food is, and we want to break those. We know that food is medicine,” said Dickens, “and we need to be ahead of the curve.” 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bad-hospital-foodhealthy_n_5e5d3de2c5b63aaf8f5b0390. Acesso em Mar 16, 2020. Adaptado. 

    Ethical codes evolve in response to changing conditions, values, and ideas. A professional code of ethics must, therefore, be periodically updated, and also rest upon widely shared values.

    Although the operating environment of museums grows more complex each year, the root value for museums, the tie that connects all of us together despite our diversity, is the commitment to serving people, both present and future generations.

    Historically, museums have owned and used natural objects, living and non-living, and all manner of human artifacts to advance knowledge and nourish the human spirit. Today, the range of their special interests reflects the scope of human vision. Their missions include collecting and preserving, as well as exhibiting and educating with materials not only owned but also borrowed and fabricated for these ends. Their numbers include both governmental and private museums.

    The museum universe in the United States includes both collecting and noncollecting institutions. Although diverse in their missions, they have in common their nonprofit form of organization and a commitment of service to the public. Their collections and/or the objects they borrow or fabricate are the basis for research, exhibits, and programs that invite public participation.

    Taken as a whole, museum collections and exhibition materials represent the world's natural and cultural common wealth. As stewards of that wealth, museums are compelled to advance an understanding of all natural forms and of the human experience. It is incumbent on museums to be resources for humankind and in all their activities to foster an informed appreciation of the rich and diverse world we have inherited. It is also incumbent upon them to preserve that inheritance for posterity.

www.aam-us.org/museumresources/ethics/coe.cfm. Acessado em 22/02/2024. Adaptado.