The Case of Vegetarian Hospital Diets in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to understand how vegetarian diets in Taiwanese hospitals are well established and provide suggestion for successful implementation in Korea. Micro-ethnographic case study with in-depth interviews, field observations, and paper reviews were used for this study. Experiences of doctors and nutritionists from Taiwanese hospitals where deliver vegetarian hospital diets were analyzed. This research found out Taiwanese life respect culture has influence on introducing vegetarian diets in hospital, besides most Participants agreed to use vegetarian diets for the medical purpose according to their clinic experiences and research results. Meanwhile there is no restriction to compel patients to keep vegetarian diets. All participants answered food has a large effect on the human body and further study on vegetarian diets’ efficacy is required. The hospital chief’s decision making is crucial to introduce vegetarian diets in hospitals. For the bigger picture, social supports, organizational supports and national policy supports are all important factors for it. The implications and recommendations for Korean hospitals were discussed. The public awareness for vegetarian diet for medical purpose along with research on its efficacy would be needed. In order to make good use of a vegetarian diet for medical purposes, we first need to build a vegetarian-friendly environment, go deep into the study of a diet’s effects using diverse methodologies, and combine the diet with traditional medicine theory. Based on the results of this primary study, more related studies should be carried out in the future. keywords : Vegetarian diet in hospital, Taiwan, ethnographic case study, nutrition therapy, Traditional Korean medicine