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They call it “enhanced dining.” And residents love it.
For years, residents at Golden Living Center in Independence and Odessa were served food the traditional dining method.
“Have you ever been in a hospital?” said Mary Glidewell, a certified dietary manager for the Golden Living Center in Odessa. “You know they send you a tray. It was kind of like that.”
Not anymore.
Golden Living Centers have gone to the enhanced dining person-centered care.
“The residents tell us what they like to eat,” Glidewell said. “It’s just as if you were going to a restaurant.”
Betty Abramovitz, the manager at Golden Living in Independence, said her staff offers residents the same as the Odessa branch.
“I think it’s been very receptive,” Abramovitz said of what residents feel about the new choices.
Glidewell’s father was a resident at Golden Living. Before he came to the nursing home, he occasionally like a simple bowl of cereal for dinner.
“Now, he could have that. We give them that choice.”
And the food choices, Glidewell said, are more nutritious as Golden Living has added more fruits and vegetables on the menu.
The advantages of offering more choices can be a mental ease on the resident as it comforts them by adding a touch of home.
“It’s the culture change,” Abramovitz said, “and we’re trying to do more home-like environment and more choices. If you were home, would you want somebody telling you have to eat?”
Abramovitz said they confer with the seniors, asking them what they would like to see on the menu.
“We try to do resident-choice menus along with our regular menus.”
Currently, the Independence facility has 75 residents.
“If you go out there and cook everything on the menu and they don’t eat, it serves no purpose,” Abramovitz said.
So her staff will post a menu for residents, much like a restaurant, and they will take orders.
“We take it back to the kitchen and the girls will serve it up,” Abramovitz said.
They also wheel a salad and dessert cart for the residents, offering up even more options.
Three years ago, the center in Odessa introduced the enhanced dining program, and other Golden Living Centers have been picking up the program.
The nursing home was awarded the American Healthcare Association and the National Center for Assisted Living Step I quality award for 2009.
They call it “enhanced dining.” And residents love it.
For years, residents at Golden Living Center in Independence and Odessa were served food the traditional dining method.
“Have you ever been in a hospital?” said Mary Glidewell, a certified dietary manager for the Golden Living Center in Odessa. “You know they send you a tray. It was kind of like that.”
Not anymore.
Golden Living Centers have gone to the enhanced dining person-centered care.
“The residents tell us what they like to eat,” Glidewell said. “It’s just as if you were going to a restaurant.”
Betty Abramovitz, the manager at Golden Living in Independence, said her staff offers residents the same as the Odessa branch.
“I think it’s been very receptive,” Abramovitz said of what residents feel about the new choices.
Glidewell’s father was a resident at Golden Living. Before he came to the nursing home, he occasionally like a simple bowl of cereal for dinner.
“Now, he could have that. We give them that choice.”
And the food choices, Glidewell said, are more nutritious as Golden Living has added more fruits and vegetables on the menu.
The advantages of offering more choices can be a mental ease on the resident as it comforts them by adding a touch of home.
“It’s the culture change,” Abramovitz said, “and we’re trying to do more home-like environment and more choices. If you were home, would you want somebody telling you have to eat?”
Abramovitz said they confer with the seniors, asking them what they would like to see on the menu.
“We try to do resident-choice menus along with our regular menus.”
Currently, the Independence facility has 75 residents.
“If you go out there and cook everything on the menu and they don’t eat, it serves no purpose,” Abramovitz said.
So her staff will post a menu for residents, much like a restaurant, and they will take orders.
“We take it back to the kitchen and the girls will serve it up,” Abramovitz said.
They also wheel a salad and dessert cart for the residents, offering up even more options.
Three years ago, the center in Odessa introduced the enhanced dining program, and other Golden Living Centers have been picking up the program.
The nursing home was awarded the American Healthcare Association and the National Center for Assisted Living Step I quality award for 2009.
