If you’re considering care homes in Evesham Worcestershire, you might be feeling overwhelmed by preparing your meals.
You’re not alone. Before people move into a care home, it is common to let one’s nutrition slide as they become less mobile around the kitchen.
That’s where residential care homes like Cedar Lodge can help. Care Homes like ours in Evesham prepare all meals for their residents. Served with seasonal, changing menus, new residents at Cedar Lodge soon find they’ve built back their appetites and strength.
Below we’ve gone into more detail about our meal service at Cedar Lodge. We hope it gives you a better idea of what support you can expect in a residential care home.
On Moving In to a Care Home Evesham
When you move into Cedar Lodge Care Home Evesham, one of the care home catering team will meet with you.
They will ask what foods you like to eat, which foods you dislike, and what nutritional needs you may have. Any likes and dislikes will be documented in the kitchen paperwork for all the cooks’ reference.
We will also work through a nutritional quiz. This is filed in your care plan. It discusses your favourite meals, beverages and what support you need to help with your eating and drinking.
We also find it helpful to record your weight, with your consent, and to weigh you at regular intervals. This is so we can benchmark if you have an unexplained change to your weight which may need to be checked by your GP.
Do you have a preferred breakfast, such as porridge, toast or eggs? If so, you can give this advanced order to the staff so they can prepare this for you each morning. Otherwise, you can choose on the day.
In the morning, care staff will also go round to each resident and ask what you’d like for lunch. Staff will always offer you an alternative if you don’t fancy the lunch on the menu.
There is also a selection to make for evening supper which is served at around 6PM. If you need help, we’ve compiled a picture manual so you can peruse what each supper course looks like before you choose.
Residents are encouraged to take their meals down in the dining room. This is because we feel it’s a lovely opportunity for everyone to get together and socialise. However, if you prefer to eat in the privacy of your own room that’s also okay. We’ll serve your meal to you hot and on a tray.
Diabetes & Food Allergies
Some of our residents live with Diabetes or food allergies. In this case, we will register your needs when you arrive at Cedar Lodge, in both the kitchen paperwork and your care plan. A bespoke menu will then be created to cater to your dietary requirements. If you need help injecting insulin, diabetic nurses will visit daily.
Dysphagia and Dementia
Some residents at our care home in evesham may struggle to chew or swallow their food. This is known as dysphagia.
For individuals with dysphagia, we can refer you to our local NHS Speech and Language Therapy Team (SALT). They will assess how you are struggling and prescribe exercises to build back your chewing and swallowing skills.
They can also offer guidance on what type of diet might be best suited to your condition. This may include more puréed foods, which our cooks can prepare for you.
If you live with a condition like Dementia, it may be helpful for someone to be around so that you’re prompted to eat.
We find that the social environment of our dining room helps this process. But staff members can also sit with you to prompt and remind you so that you don’t miss out on any lovely meals! This is where the benefit of 24-7 staff at dementia care homes in evesham like ours help.
We can also order coloured plates or adaptive cutlery and crockery. These accommodate for any coordination or vision issues that your Dementia presents.
Food Hygiene
All staff complete training in food hygiene, diet and nutrition and diabetes. They also do training in health & safety and infection control.
Moreover, catering staff complete a higher level 2 exam in Food Hygiene which is refreshed regularly.
Our kitchen has been awarded 5 stars by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). The cleanliness of our food preparation, staff knowledge and safety checks are all included in the FSA assessment.
Getting Involved
At Cedar Lodge Care Home, we hold regular resident meetings where you can provide feedback on our meal service. The meetings also serve as an opportunity to say what changes you would like to see to our menu.
Your opinions are also sought in quality assurance surveys. These are sent out by our Care Home Administrator, Michelle. Carers and care planners will also check in regularly with you.
Have you always enjoyed cooking? If you would like to keep up your culinary skills our cook Anita runs a cookery club. It takes place every fortnight in the care home dining room. It gives residents the opportunity to meet, learn new recipes and have fun together by enjoying this purposeful activity.
After all, meals that are well prepared are so important to our wellbeing. Having this resource available is for many, a big advantage to living in a residential care home in Evesham.
Looking at Care Homes Evesham?
If you have any questions about our meal service at Cedar Lodge, we encourage you to contact our team. We are always happy to help. If you’d like to come for a show round you can even stay for lunch. Call today on 01386 293 033.
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