Nutrition booklet highly commended at 2017 BMA Patient Information Awards

NAM aidsmap’s booklet Nutrition has been highly commended at this year’s British Medical Association (BMA) Patient Information Awards. You can read the booklet online at www.aidsmap.com/booklets

Eating well to stay well

Nutrition is intended to answer some of the most common questions about food, nutrition and living with HIV.

The first part of the booklet provides general nutritional advice and includes sections on healthy eating, vitamins and minerals and maintaining a healthy weight. The following sections of the booklet deal with HIV-related issues such as managing side-effects that interfere with eating, weight loss and metabolic changes.

As part of the judging process for the awards, we had some positive feedback from the BMA's reviewers: "This is a well-produced booklet, as I would expect for an Information Standard approved organisation. It is packed full of useful information."

The BMA Patient Information Awards

The awards are held every year, and their stated aim is to “support and encourage patient-centred care in meeting the needs of patients through the production and dissemination of accessible, well-designed and clinically balanced information which will promote greater awareness and understanding of health matters, and patient choice.”

It was fantastic to see the different types of resources that organisations are producing across the country, such as factsheets, apps, videos, and resources for children, on such a huge range of health conditions. Some examples of the runner-up and winning resources are: an activity book for children affected by tinnitus; a website (including short films) on tube feeding for people with motor neurone disease; an online breath test for people concerned about their breathlessness; and a web app for women who have had breast cancer, helping them to deal with the long-term impact of the condition.

This year, the overall winning patient resource was Terrence Higgins Trust’s It Starts With Me campaign which aims to promote HIV testing, condom use and starting HIV treatment. Terrence Higgins Trust works in collaboration with a number of organisations on the It Starts With Me campaign, including NAM aidsmap!

Thank you

During the process of developing, reviewing and publishing all our resources, we work with people living with HIV and people working in HIV, including health professionals and staff in support organisations.

A huge thank you to everyone who was involved in producing this booklet and also to Wandsworth Oasis and the Department of Health for funding towards the development of this booklet.

NAM’s Patient Information Subscription Scheme

UK-based HIV and GUM clinics can order copies of Nutrition, and all our other booklets and leaflets in The basics series, through our online portal as part of their patient information subscription.

To find out if your clinic is registered or for information on joining the scheme, please contact James at james@nam.org.uk or call 020 7837 6988.