Dispelling Myths About Dietitians in Multiple Sclerosis Care: Mona Bostick, RDN, LDN, MSCS

WATCH TIME: 2 minutes

“Just like if somebody is having difficulty with fatigue and moving around their kitchen, I'm going to refer to an occupational therapist…If nutrition questions come up, I would certainly hope that the patient would be referred to a dietitian.”

Treatment for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) relies on the collaborative nature of the comprehensive care team. While diet is considered an integral part of overall health and management of comorbidities that often occur in this patient population, dietitians are not traditionally included as a part of the larger team.

To understand more about how information is shared in the care for these patients, we sat down with Mona Bostick, RDN, LDN, MSCS, founder of her private practice, MS Bites. In conversation with NeurologyLive^®, Bostick discussed the importance of referrals, describing her best practices when seeing patients. If a patient has an unidentified problem with their mouth or swallowing, a referral to a speech pathologist in her network would be the next step, she said. Similarly, Bostick expressed hope that if a patient presents a nutritional or diet-related question, that practitioners would be referred to a dietitian. A common misconception about insurance coverage for dietitians was also discussed, with Bostick stating that, contrary to popular belief, dietitians are actually covered by most insurance services.

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