Ten Innovations for Senior Dining

A conundrum for some, an opportunity for others – it all depends how you want to look at the prospect of feeding seniors in today’s long-term care facilities. As I’ve been in health centres across the country, I’ve noticed there’s an incredible variety of approaches. What’s clear to me is that beyond the challenges of tight budgets for operations and higher acuity levels among residents, the chance to be implement innovative ideas can be easy and effective. With respect to some equipment options, here are some ideas to chew on.

1. Select a dessert from a French style service cart right at your table offering numerous dessert selections? How enticing would that be? Or perhaps feature a daily special on the cart to better showcase the option.
2. A cart that reheats frozen plated meals and then gently brings them to serving temperature can open up a world of selection as well as support shaped texture modified food reheating.
3. Use mobile food carts equipped with on-board heating and cooling options for dining room service. They support locally assembled trays and course-by-course serving. The mobile buffet cart (Minigen or Bon Appetit from Burlodge) is usually small and can fit between tables for service at the place-setting or even off to the side of the dining lounge for service to the resident table. Either way, choice at meal service brings a heaping of spiritual well-being along with a side order of dignity.
4. Enhanced mobile food carts that have #3’s attributes but are also engineered to reheat foods from a chilled or frozen state. These Multigen carts are programmable for automatic start times and let operators load them whenever is convenient. They maintain safe holding temperatures and start to reheat automatically. They even have hot tops, overhead gantry lighting, and side shelves for added functionality.
5. As with buffet style serveries (detailed in #4), mobile reheating carts can be used to bake off cookies or cakes during non-meal times. A great tool for activation therapy sessions.
6. The dual oven design of reheating carts (Multigen) allows for reheating foods of different densities, so you can have heavier dishes like lasagne warming in one cavity (top) and a lighter main such as fish in the other cavity (bottom). Both will be ready to serve at the same time.
7. Tray carts for course-by-course dining (RTS CT) simplify and speed operations. Trayed meals are prepared cold, then reheated in a tray cart (up to 30 at a time), which is transferred to the patient dining area. The cart has a door for cold and a separate door for hot food. Connected to a 110 volt plug (30 amp service), designated foods are then served directly to patients.
8. Sleek, attractive nourishment carts (Breakfast & Beverage Carts) with cold drawers and retractable side shelves allow for increased preparation space. These units are excellent for snack time service, hydration therapy, special events, and help to control food and ward stocks as well.
9. Static reheat ovens (Regen) reside on countertops or platforms in serveries and kitchens to provide easy access. Available in a variety of capacities, they do not require venting and are an economical alternative to combi-type ovens.
10. A recent trend gaining favour is to provide services that better accommodate patients’ appetites. Rather than insist breakfast, for example, must be at 8:00 a.m., providing meals within a broader window (say, 6:00 – 10:00 a.m.) ensures residents are more likely to get their nutrition when they are actually hungry. Operationally, this can be accommodated by setting up the dining lounge as a Breakfast Buffet, offering similar selections each day.

Is there certain piece of equipment or style of service that you think makes a good impression on your residents? Or is there something that’s on your operational wish list? Let us know.