An ice cream manufacturer in northern Tasmania has collaborated with healthcare provider Calvary to develop an ice cream for patients in palliative care. Source: ABC News.
You won’t find this ice cream at a cafe or supermarket. It’s been nutritionally fortified with medical-grade vitamin D3 and B12 and needs to be consumed under medical supervision.
“It’s not to say a normal person couldn’t eat the ice cream, it wouldn’t harm them,” dietician Stephen Hodgkinson said.
“But there are certain health conditions where we need to be mindful of limiting that protein. For younger children, especially.”
It’s a formula specifically designed for end-of-life patients in palliative care at Calvary’s four private hospitals in Tasmania.
The included vitamins help increase their immune function and strengthen bone density.
The unique partnership with a Tasmanian ice cream business came about after Calvary hospital catering staff had asked: “Why are we feeding people food we wouldn’t eat ourselves?”.
It is now a passion project for Van Diemens Land Creamery chief executive Carly Palmer.
“From start to finish we wanted the ice cream to be made with the end user in mind,” Ms Palmer said.
“Putting ourselves in the shoes of those people, in care or in hospital.”
For the past two years, the company at Elizabeth Town, near Deloraine in the state’s north, has been working with Calvary on the project.
Calvary Launceston general manager Kate Pryde said many palliative care patients had difficulties swallowing and struggle to eat solid foods.
“When you do need supplementary feed, you want something that is normal,” she said.
“Particularly when you’re talking about palliation. For us, providing health care is about comfort, and who doesn’t think ice cream is a comfort food ?”
FULL STORY
Tasmanian medicinal ice cream supporting palliative care patients, one scoop at a time (By Laurissa Smith, ABC News)
