Nutrition education and communication activities at the class I Da Nang general hospital in 2025 and its associated factors: Feedback of inpatients and hospital staffs

Objective: This study aimed to assess nutrition education and communication (NEC) activities using inpatient feedback and to explore factors influencing the implementation of NEC at a class I hospital in Da Nang, Vietnam, in 2025.

Methods: A mixed-methods study integrating a cross sectional quantitative component and a phenomenological qualitative approach was conducted from November 2024 to November 2025. Quantitative data were collected from 112 inpatients. Qualitative data were obtained through five in-depth interviews and three focus group discussions involving hospital administrators, physicians, nurses and inpatients. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively, while qualitative data were analyzed thematically to identify enabling and constraining factors affecting NEC activities.

Results: Individual nutrition counseling was the most commonly implemented NEC activity, reported by 87.5% of inpatients. However, level of inpatient satisfaction were modest, with the overall satisfaction rates for individual counseling and indirect communication were 30.6% and 45.9%, respectively. Key enabling factors included strong leadership commitment and the development of annual implementation plans for NEC activities. Major barriers included the lack of mandatory integration of NEC into standard clinical treatment protocols and limited coordination between the Nutrition Department and clinical departments.

Conclusion: Despite high coverage of NEC activities particularly individual counseling (87.5%), patient satisfaction remained low. The gap between coverage and perceived effectiveness appears to be driven primarily by systemic barriers, particularly the absence of formal integration of NEC into clinical protocols and suboptimal interdepartmental coordination.