Care home food
All our care homes cater for a range of dietary needs, from Coeliac and gluten-free, to vegetarian and vegan.
As we get older, it’s crucial that we eat and drink properly. Good care home food is vital in residential care – a nutritious diet is one of the most important factors in staying healthy.
Nutrition and hydration in care homes
Moving into one of our care homes can have a really positive impact on an older person’s diet, nutrition and hydration. We care for the whole person, and take nutrition and hydration extremely seriously.
Mealtimes are really important to us. At all our care homes we encourage our residents to eat together as there are so many social and nutritional benefits. However, people can choose to eat their meals in their room, if they prefer.
Because we get to know our residents’ likes and dislikes so well, we know what, when and how they like to eat. Care staff are always on hand to support and encourage residents at mealtimes. This is especially important for our residents who lost interest in eating and drinking at home. For older people living by themselves at home, eating well isn’t always as easy as it sounds.
There’s often a combination of reasons why an older person doesn’t get all the nutritionally-balanced meals they need to when they’re living by themselves. For many people, getting older can mean senses – such as taste and smell – deteriorate, which can lead to a loss of appetite. For some arthritis makes cooking painful and difficult, while others are living with dysphagia and find it hard to swallow.
Catering for people’s care home food preferences
In our care homes some people like the structure of three square meals a day, while others prefer to eat smaller portions at mealtimes, and snack in between.
All our care homes cater for a range of dietary needs, from Coeliac and gluten-free, to vegetarian and vegan.
Our chefs are experts in baking mouth-watering cakes and biscuits to tempt our residents. And there is always water and squash on tap, if you’ll pardon the pun!
The chefs use local and seasonal ingredients as much as possible in designing their menus. They work hard to create appetising meals which are not only nutritionally-balanced, but delicious too!
Our care and nursing homes have picture and written menus, but we always re-offer before serving, to check our residents haven’t changed their minds about what they’d like to eat.
Care home food for people with dementia
Many of the residents in our care and nursing homes are living with dementia. If they’re living without support in their own homes, people living with dementia can struggle to eat and drink properly, which can result in weight loss and dehydration.
Our care home kitchen staff often prepare finger foods for our residents living with dementia. This simple change can make a big difference, making it much easier to eat, rather than struggling with a knife and fork.
And for our residents living with dementia, food can also play a big part in reminiscence. Being reminded of childhood favourites, by taste or smell, can help stimulate conversations and stories with family members and our care staff about likes and dislikes.
Ross is the chef at Cheriton Care Home in Dorchester, Dorset:
When I’m planning menus I get to know what type of food the residents would have eaten when they were younger. I also vary the menus so they don’t get bored. I go to the residents’ and relatives’ meetings and come out of the kitchen at mealtimes to speak to the residents and get their feedback and suggestions.
Our residents like fish and chips, fish pie, ham, egg and chips, roast dinners with all the trimmings, chicken curry and salads. We also do cottage pie, stews and casseroles.
Kitchen and dining room hygiene
We take hygiene extremely seriously. All staff who handle food have to undergo hygiene training. We pride ourselves on our care homes being pleasant and clean environments where our residents can eat sociably and safely.
Using technology to keep track of nutrition
We’re rolling out an online tool across our care homes so care staff can easily keep track of a resident’s day, including how much they’ve had to eat and drink.
This tool – called Nourish – means that our care staff have up-to-the-minute information at their fingertips about their residents and can encourage them to eat and drink. And because there’s no ‘paperwork’, our care staff get to spend more time with residents, supporting them to eat and drink well.
