Healthcare is one of the biggest topics that are up for debate in the current elections, and you will find that every leader is trying to push for better healthcare, or trying to figure out how to have good quality healthcare services available, yet, at the same time, not have to spend as much money on healthcare. It is not an easy feat to accomplish, and that is why you will find that no politician has the right answer yet, however, science and research just might hold the key in this situation.
A 2018 study on the effectiveness of meal delivery programs found that people who had medically tailored meal plans didn’t have as many hospital visits the following year. This study is providing some proof that a potential healthy meal delivery plan, especially for patients and people that already suffer from different health conditions can affect their health enough to reduce their number of hospital visits, which meant not straining the healthcare system as much.
Of course more time and research will be needed before this can be considered an effective means, however, for the time being, it is safe to say that the kind of meals we consume does affect our health, and can play a role into the number of times a patient might have to pay a visit to a hospital for healthcare services.
Most patients do have to follow a rather strict diet plan, especially if they happen to suffer from health conditions like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and hypertension and so on. So, they have to follow a diet plan, however, sticking to the diet plan is actually really difficult for a lot of these patients, and this is especially the case if they are old and/or they live alone. This usually means that they have to cook and prepare their meals themselves, and this is too much work for them, so they will end up resorting to what is already present at home, or will just eat instant and quick meals. This is where their bad diet can end up affecting their health, and end up leading to more hospital visits overtime.
Having a meal delivery program that is able to adjust itself according to each person’s medical needs will be really beneficial for both the patient, their families, and the healthcare system. By giving someone with a medical condition a meal plan that doesn’t affect their health, you ensure that their health remains good and they remain healthy and happy in the long-run. You end up benefiting their families because the family doesn’t have to worry about the patient’s diet as much, and that takes off one burden from their shoulders, so they can rest assured that their loved one is eating a healthy diet and is doing okay. Lastly, it ends up helping the healthcare system because the patient is maintaining a healthy diet that won’t aggravate or affect their medical condition in any negative way, meaning that won’t have to visit the hospital as frequently, and that the healthcare system will have one less patient to deal with.
Meal planning is really difficult for anyone, in fact, even us, being healthy and without any medical condition weighing us down are not able to manage a healthy meal plan, so you can only imagine how much more difficult it might be from someone who is already suffering from a medical ailment. The entire process of planning a meal that is able to meet your dietary requirements, and at the same time, also follows your medical guidelines can be really complicated, and unless you know about food well enough, chances are that the patient will either create a meal plan that will end up depriving them of essential nutrients, or they will end up creating a meal plan that will affect their medical condition in one way or another. Even family members that might be preparing the meal for the patient can end up making these mistakes too, and at times they usually end up feeling bad for the patient and try to sneak in things the patient shouldn’t be eating in their meal plan, and while they do mean well, it only affects the patient’s health in the long-run. If you are actually looking to get a meal delivery service done and don’t know where to go, you can reach out to the experts at ActivEats for help.
Having a proper meal prep and delivery program set up can be really great for everyone that is involved in the system. When there are experts that are planning your meals, they will make sure that the meal that is being made has all of the necessary nutrition and meets all of the normal dietary requirement, and at the same time, they will also make sure that the meal is properly medically tailored for each patient and their health condition.
This means healthier patients, and when the patients are relatively healthy, they are less likely to go to the hospital as much, and the amount of money being spent by the patient for medical expenses like medicine and so on will be reduced as well, and this is really beneficial for the patient because medical expenses can be really expensive, and it can really drain all of the money out of anyone unless they have a really good healthcare plan. So, in the scenario where the healthcare system is taking care of the patient, a healthier patient means less hospital and medical expenses that need to be paid, and this means that the number of vulnerable people dependent on the healthcare system also decreases, which is another plus point.
Of course, a meal planning and delivery system might be a little expensive, but if you compare it to the usual cost of medical care and other medical expenses, it still doesn’t cost as much. So, as research is still ongoing, there is now some newfound home that meal delivery plans can potentially help the growing crisis of vulnerable patients getting sick and the healthcare system continuing to be burdened.