People move into a care home for different reasons and periods of time. For some, it is a short-term stay for respite care, whereas for others it may be a long-term solution to their need for nursing and personal care. But whatever be the reason for admission, each care plan should include individual food preferences. Over here we discuss how you can improve mealtimes and food and eating practices in your care home.
1. Preparing a well-balanced diet plan
To cater to each and every resident’s dietary requirements, conduct a routine nutritional screening in consultation with a general physician. Plan for meals based upon the findings. Meals should include various food items (loaded with essential nutrients) in the right portions. Make the food look appealing.
2. Maintaining proper hygiene
Ensure that the care staff wash their hands before and while preparing the meal. Also, it helps to have a strict cleaning schedule in place to ensure all the dishes and equipment are cleaned and maintained regularly. Doing this also helps to reduce the risk of cross-contamination.
3. Monitoring food items’ shelf life
It’s important to keep a check on food items and condiments – because you don’t want to use any item that’s past their expiry dates. Failing to track/monitor food items’ shelf life and using them in food can put residents’ health at risk. To avoid such mistakes, ask your staff to label each food item with their expiry dates.
4. Using fresh food items as much as possible
Fresh farm procurements are loaded with nutrients whereas packaged ones have added preservatives which aren’t good for older residents. It’s a good practice to buy just the right amount of fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat (for a day or two) by taking into account the number of residents.
5. Ask for individual preferences
Ask residents about their mealtime experience and provide each of them with a service that meets their preferences.
Improve the quality of care at your care home by helping your staff focus on person-centred care
Help your care home staff focus on activities that will improve the physical and mental well-being of the residents. One of the activities that takes a considerable amount of your care staff’s time is medication administration and its documentation. If you are using MAR sheets in your care home, then switch to Electronic MAR to streamline medication administration, improve efficiency, and lower the risks of medication errors. To book an eMAR demo, visit here
