Health & Welfare: A sector first for care home caterers

Delivering a positive mealtime experience, menu planning and design, screening for malnutrition, how to cater for special diets. These are just some of the topics covered in Care Home Digest, the first menu planning and food services guidelines for care homes.

The publication aims to support care homes in providing appropriate food and drink for residents and are invaluable for care homes without access to a dietitian to help with menu development. Within its pages, caterers receive guidance on how to ensure menus include varied and balanced meals that will tempt residents to eat.

The digest, which is free to download, has been produced by the Food Services Specialist Group and Older Specialist Group of the British Dietetic Association (BDA) in collaboration with the National Association of Care Catering (NACC).

Helen Ream from the BDA, also a member of the NACC, says:

,“Until now there hasn’t been any food service or menu planning guidance for care home teams. It can be challenging meeting both the mealtime preferences and nutritional needs of residents, especially as many have special dietary requirements and/or are at a greater risk of malnutrition. These guidelines offer information to chefs and caterers to help plan their menus and service to meet the needs and preferences of residents.”

Caterers can use the document as a ‘toolkit’, navigating to specific areas of interest. It also contains two checklists which enables teams to review their services, understand what they are doing well and identify areas for development. Helen adds, “The checklists can also be used to provide evidence to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and other regulators to demonstrate how they are meeting the nutrition and hydration needs of their residents.”

Neel Radia, chair of the NACC, comments that mealtimes may be the highlight of many
residents’ days and something they look forward to in their daily routine. “Food can enable residents to express who they are and what is important to them. The Care Home Digest brings together the latest evidence to support staff on a vast range of topics including how to deliver a positive mealtime experience, dining room environment, meal preparation, menu structure, menu content, special diets and unusual preferences. It will become the ‘go to’ tool for caterers to use when reviewing their food service and menus. We hope these guidelines will be widely used and become a nationally trusted resource.”

In the chapter on special diets, there is invaluable information and advice on how to cater for residents with dementia, dysphagia and those at risk of malnutrition. Extensive meal ideas are given for vegetarian and vegan diets, religious and cultural diets and for those with food allergies.

Andy Cullum, National IDDSI Craft Trainer, says:

“This guide is essential reading for care home caterers and chefs. It demonstrates how to provide individualised meals for residents according to their needs and preferences. As a chef, I believe this publication will change the way we think about hydration and nutrition for our residents. It demonstrates how to serve a nutrient dense diet tailored to each resident. The old approach was to load dishes with cream and butter. The guide advises giving them these ingredients in moderation. What we need to aim for is protein without saturated fats. It includes easy to follow nutritional break-down of meals such as a continental breakfast.”