We all know that food and drink not only influence our weight but have a significant impact on our mood, concentration, and overall health. Good food and hydration are essential for overall well-being, especially for older people. From our housekeepers to our mangers everyone is involved in ensuring residents receive sufficient food and hydration.
For those living with dementia, this can be especially challenging. Our Hospitality and Catering team have been working on a solution to help people make positive choices at mealtimes. Photo menu boards are being trialled in several Country Court care homes across the country to roll them out across the group.
“The photo menu boards have been a huge step forward for our residents living with dementia,” explained Anwar Kajee. “Using magnetic photo cards of individual foods, we can support residents in communicating their meal choices much more effectively. This has been most successful for those living with dementia, or with impaired speech or hearing. The Front of House teams can change the boards quickly and easily each day. It’s been a huge project to photograph each element that makes up each meal. The benefits have been clear to see, and we are monitoring residents’ weight and overall well-being to assess the impact of using the boards”.
In line with the NHS best practice recommendations for hospitals, in our care homes, we focus on 10 key characteristics of good nutrition and hydration care.
1. Screen all residents to identify malnourishment or risk of malnourishment and ensure actions are progressed and monitored.
2. Together with resident, create a personal care plan enabling them to have choice and control over their own nutritional care and fluid needs.
3. Care providers should include specific guidance on food and beverage services and other nutritional & hydration care in their service delivery and accountability arrangements.
4. Residents are involved in the planning and monitoring arrangements for food service and drinks provision.
5. Food and drinks should be provided alone or with assistance in an environment conducive to people being able to consume their food (Protected Mealtimes).
6. All staff receive regular training to ensure they have the skills, qualifications and competencies needed to meet the nutritional and fluid requirements of people using their services.
7. Our Catering and Hospitality teams are flexible and centred on the needs of our residents, 24 hours a day, every day.
8. Our nutrition and hydration policy is centred on the needs of residents and is performance-managed in line with local governance, national standards and regulatory frameworks.
9. Food, drinks and other nutritional care are delivered safely.
10. We take a multi-disciplinary approach to nutrition and hydrational care, valuing the contribution of all staff, residents and healthcare professionals working in partnership.
