EHI Activities

ADVANCING IN HYDRATION SCIENCE

The European Hydration Institute:

  • Compiles and reviews scientific evidence about human hydration sources of hydration and related issues in order to become the reference centre for published hydration science and knowledge.
  • Offers Research Grants to support research related to human hydration In the first instance, this support is in the form of an annual program of grants for graduate student research projects
  • Undertakes and encourages scientific research relating to hydration to better understand the role of hydration in health, wellness and performance
  • Undertakes sociological research to understand consumer knowledge, attitudes and behaviour related to hydration
  • Partners with other institutions to further hydration research and applicable knowledge to the benefit of health care professionals and populations at risk

SHARING HYDRATION KNOWLEDGE

The European Hydration Institute:

  • Promotes the importance of ensuring adequate hydration levels and provides information to help develop greater awareness and understanding of good hydration behaviours , particularly amongst those at risk of not being optimally hydrated (specific hydration requirements exist during pregnancy, whilst breastfeeding, when playing sport, and for children and elderly)
  • Facilitates the sharing of hydration science, information, opinions and knowledge about hydration among scientists, healthcare professionals and also amongst people in general to support them in their desire to live healthier lives

HYDRATION RESEARCH PROJECTS 2013

Pan EU Hydration research project

The EHI is sponsoring a project to collect data on water balance in healthy adult men and women in Europe. A pilot scale approach was developed in the UK in 2011 and this is now being expanded to a further three European countries. Expressions of interest in participating have been received from a number of European Research centres since the call was launched in June 2012. The call is now closed. The research project will start at the end of 2012 and will be carried out over a 12-month period.

The effect of hydration and nutritional status on the outcomes of older patients admitted to hospital as medical emergencies.

The EHI is sponsoring a prospective cohort pilot study in patients admitted to hospital aged 65 years or older.

The objectives of this study are assessing:

+ The prevalence of dehydration at emergency and casualty departments on admission, at 48 hours, and on discharge.
+ The feasibility (acceptability and ease of use) of a hands-free drinking system
+ The prevalence of dehydration in the community following discharge. Clinical outcomes such as patient bed days, mortality, discharge destination and readmission assessments are also included.

Patient recruitment and study interventions will take place at Nottingham University Hospitals, Queen’s Medical Centre. Patients admitted to one of two elderly acute medical wards at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will also be eligible for enrolment. The project is currently in the recruitment phase, which will be performed during two periods: summer (June to August 2012, both inclusive) and winter (November 2012 to January 2013, both inclusive). The number of expected participants is 200. The study will be carried out over 24 months.

EHI GRANTS

EHI graduate student research grants

Every year the EHI provides eight Grants to support graduate student research projects related to human hydration. In doing so the Institute seeks to encourage more research related to human hydration in order to build greater knowledge about this important aspect of public health.

Applications are welcomed every year from graduate students registered at a Higher Education Institution in biological, social, nutritional or clinical medicine studies. Each award has a value of € 5,000, with additional support to a maximum of € 1,000 available on application to allow the presentation of results.

Since the scheme was first launched in 2010/11, the EHI has supported fifteen research projects in human hydration.

GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH GRANTS 2013/14

The European Hydration Institute (EHI) is a foundation established to advance knowledge and understanding of all matters relating to human hydration and its effects on health, wellness and performance.

The Institute was created in response to the need for an authoritative source of knowledge and information to support efforts designed to ensure people across Europe are properly hydrated.

The EHI works with independent scientists who are members of its Science Advisory Board. It is supported by trustees, partners and collaborators who share a mutual desire to better understand the science of hydration and the way it affects health, wellness and performance.

In accordance with its mission, the European Hydration Institute (EHI) is offering eight research grants in 2013/14 to support graduate student research projects related to human hydration.

Applications are welcomed from graduate students registered at a European Higher Education Institution in October 2013 in biological, social, nutritional or clinical medicine studies.

Each award has a value of €5,000, with additional support to a maximum €1,000 available to allow the presentation of results. The application timeframe is from 16th September 2013 until 2nd December 2013. The first Grants will be available in January 2014.

Past recipients and the titles of their projects

2012/13

2011/12

2010/11

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES

Discussing Hydration in Children

social studies 1 EHI ActivitiesThe EHI is supporting the international Paediatric Community Excellence in Paediatrics (EiP) in conducting a survey amongst healthcare professionals aimed at identifying how they follow up on children’s hydration. The results will be published in the EHI and EiP websites.

The online survey is available here until early November >>

Survey among parents and Parents’ Talks

social studies 2 EHI ActivitiesThe EHI has supported the international Paediatric Community Excellence in Paediatrics (EiP) in the development of an online survey aimed at gaining an insight into parents’ views on the main topics of medical concern for parents, surrounding everyday parenting issues, including hydration.

The results of the survey will help to shape the programme of the 2012 Parents’ Congress, the first global Healthcare conference for parents, taking place in Madrid, Spain on Saturday 1 December alongside the EiP’s 2012 congress.

Talks will be delivered by leading global experts in paediatrics and will feature the participation of one of the members of the EHI Science Advisory Board, who will discuss the importance of hydration in children. After the Congress, the talks will be available for all parents around the world from the EiP website.

The online survey is available until the end of October here

The importance of human hydration: perceptions among healthcare professionals across Europe.

Health care professionals are ideally placed to advise and educate on the benefits of proper hydration status and on the best ways to achieve this. Attitudes to human hydration-related issues among healthcare professionals have been studied in some specific situations, notably in older adults, in patients with dementia, and in the terminally ill. However, little published research has been conducted on the general awareness and knowledge of healthcare professionals about hydration issues.

In light of this, the EHI has performed a study to evaluate the opinion of health care professionals about the importance of hydration for health, wellness and performance, to estimate how commonly they assess the hydration status of patients, and to explore whether they consider people to be optimally hydrated. The study also examined knowledge about daily water intake recommendations, sources of water, the contribution of beverages and food to total water intake, and the impact of beverages on hydration status.

Nearly two thousand healthcare professionals from six European countries participated in the study, these included general medical practitioners (600), nurses (300), pharmacists (550), nutritionists (265) and dietitians (265), from France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the UK. Their opinion was recorded by means of computer-aided web or telephone interviews. The study has been published in the Nutrition Bulletin and can be found at:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-3010.2011.01942.x/abstract

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