Providing the Right Food

The aged care food services take on an important role in providing emphasis in high quality food, particularly in the Aged Care Food Services sector. Essentially, these are the baby boomer generation that continues to move into retirement age.
Several sectors are now seeing that their services are in greater demand than ever before.
As the baby boomer generation continues to move into and towards retirement, there are several sectors that see their services in greater demand.
Taking care of the residents in aged care facilities covers several areas. As well as accommodation, and healthcare activities, there is also the important matter of providing nutritious and nourishing food.
Certainly, one of the reasons why families move their relatives into aged care facilities is that they receive professional care in many aspects that is better than if they were living at home.
Rising number
As per the Productivity Commission, there are now more than 3.5 million Australians who will be using aged care services by 2050.
In addition, the commission states that by that same year, the number of Australians aged over 85 will be 1.8 million which was 400,000 in 2010 or up to 5.1% of the country’s present population.
The major sectors will be healthcare, as people reach out for medical treatment and medicine. However, it’s important not to forget about aged care services such as retirement villages, rest homes and care facilities.
Food
Sustenance (foodand nutrition in aged care) are right up there as one of the topmost concerns as well. Many people accessing aged care depend on their aged care provider to supply their meals.
As such, providers have a responsibility to ensure that these meals meet the needs and preferences of older people in terms of taste, quality and nutrition.
The items that need attention would be talking to older people and their families about the food they eat, including their choices about meal types and times.
Expectations include cooking of nutritious and appetizing meals (including texture of modified diets), plus the support for older people to consume as much food and drink as they want.
Nutrition
For the providers, this means there is need to know that every meal counts for aged care residents. Factors like loss of appetite can lead to missed meals or smaller portions. This results in making nourishment through high protein and energy meals or snacks even more vital.
In short, foodservices play a key role in delivering nutrition and choice for the elder residents through effective menu planning practices.
Importance
With present constitution, the elderly are more susceptible to physical and mental changes due to declining digestion, absorption, and nutrient assimilation.
The lack of appetite can also lead to smaller or missed meals, subsequently causing weight loss and development of micronutrient deficiencies.
All in all, there is a decline in physical condition that the processes of shopping and preparingthe meals, would require assistance to ensure the right nutritional intake.
Micronutrient deficiencies
In the face of these factors, every meal counts, even mid-meal snacks for the aged care can be defined as a small meal, usually eaten with hands and can be both sweet or savory. Snacks are a great way to pack energy, protein and other essential nutrients into the diet for smaller eaters.
In order to fight off micronutrient deficiencies, aged care menus need to be well planned to incorporate all the core food groups. An example would include the combining process for fruits and vegetables into biscuits, cakes, and slices.
An effective menu planning ensures that residents are eating throughout the day and enjoying the meal choices provided for them.
Changes / food production services
The aged care residential services industry is now visibly growing, and this is reflected in the changing nature of different lifestyle accommodation options.
For some people, independent living units and low-care facilities are sufficient. However, for other people, high-care and specialist care is best.Wherever people are on the spectrum of dependency, the focus should be on the patient experience.
Here, hospitality plays an important role. This can be combined by the fact that there is an increased growth in government aged care. In this context, there is the opportunity to upgrade and create high quality food production services for residents.
Offsite / in-house care
One of today’s important main questions will be to either have hospitality facilities off-site or in-house. This might come down to how much space is available.
When the demand for accommodation increases, the space allocated to kitchens is being reduced. In contrast, with more people to cook for, kitchens in the future are expected to get bigger – possibly averaging 8000-9000 square meters.
New cooking equipment
From statistics, we now know that the aged care sector is getting bigger. This would mean more multifunctional equipment is required to provide residents with a balanced diet.
To date, there are now new innovative kitchen equipment (ovens) that have been a revolution in the industry. It allows kitchen staff to cook up to 10 different dishes all at once.
This game-changing technology eliminated various costs. Also, since combi ovens can clean themselves, you can save time in the kitchen.
In the coming years, the aged care sector will be using a range of high-tech brands and equipment in the kitchen. It doesn’t matter whether based off-site or in-house, since it can deliver high-quality menus at high volumes.
Over the coming years, aged care is going to be an ongoing topic for Australia. Now is the time to make sure the infrastructure is in place to provide residents with the level of care that they deserve.
Last notes
Finally, there is more than just food that goes into creating the best possible dining experience for the elder residents. The atmosphere, sounds, smells, engagement, and social opportunities all combine to help your dining hall feel like the center of a home.
Whether it resembles a five-star hotel luxury or a homely bistro dining, aged care catering companies are always on hand to help see your dream for your residents coming true.