Meaningful Mealtimes - How to Bring Dignity Back into Dining

MEANINGFUL MEALTIMES

- How to Bring Dignity Back into Dining

Providing far more than just a way to meet the physical nutritional requirements of the body, food is also associated with memory, social occasions, and emotions.

ealtimes provide a source of enjoyment, socialisation, nurturing and dignity for people living in aged care settings, therefore it is important to consider the role they play, not only in providing nutrition, but as an influence on quality of life.

Many residents in aged care facilities need assistance when consuming meals. This can be one of the most important care tasks undertaken by staff, therefore carers need to ensure dignity in dining is maintained at all times.

For residents, highly important aspects of the mealtime experience have been identified as: feeling respected, independence, variety of menu options and choices, staff knowledge and attitudes, the timing of meals, a calm and comfortable dining environment, food quality and suitability.

For seniors, feeling that they have lost some of their dignity can make meal time difficult and emotional. Challenges in eating often begin with vision loss, dental problems, cognitive loss, or digestion-specific issues. These struggles can result in frustration and stress for everyone.

There are ways to maintain dignity for aged care residents. One of the most effective strategies is to ‘be engaged’ with the person you’re assisting.

Have a conversation with your residents and tell them what is on the plate. When the meal is pureed, it’s even more important to explain what the person is eating as this texture modification can change the appearance of the food.

Cut the meal up in front of the person (once they have seen what it looks like) so they can see the full meal first.

Don’t mix foods together, especially if food services have gone to the effort to mould pureed food into food shapes.

You can deliver a high quality dining experience by paying close attention to table presentation, ensuring cutlery, crockery and drinking vessels meet residents’ unique needs and that table service is sensitively and safely delivered.

Residents who are living with dementia, impaired vision or dexterity difficulties can enjoy an independent dining experience by using bespoke high-rimmed crockery, adapted cutlery, and tablecloths in contrasting colours to enable residents to continue enjoying their food.

The goal should always be for mealtimes to be relaxing. Noise and bustle should be kept to a minimum during mealtimes to avoid any offputting distractions. When you feed or support a person in eating, be present with them as this is an important time for social stimulation.

Enabling people to be independent, ensuring enough food and fluids are consumed, and sharing the mealtime experience are the most gratifying aspects of dignified dining.

Good nutrition and hydration and enjoyable mealtimes can dramatically improve the health and well-being of older people. Mealtimes are an opportunity to enhance residents’ day-to-day experience and should be considered a priority in terms of importance and dedication of staff time.