We recently partnered with Cater Care, our in house caterer, to bring our residents, their families and those with an interest in residential care food innovation, to a very special ‘Secrets from the Kitchen’ event.
Our organisations are passionate about highlighting the effect of dysphagia on the lifestyles of those living in residential care. Dysphagia is a condition characterised by difficulty in swallowing. It means living with a textured modified diet, where food is pureed, softened by slow cooking or cut into manageable pieces. If it’s not prepared or presented correctly the pleasure of eating can be lost.
Up to 35% of Meath Care residents are on a texture modified diet as a result of Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Stroke, Parkinson’s Disease and a range of other conditions, as an organisation it’s close to our hearts.
Speech Pathologist Nicole Henderson provided some insights into the clinical care and management of the condition. She’s worked in aged care for thirty years and is heartened by the recent changes “It has always been a challenge when someone requires a texture modified diet to keep them safe and to also ensure that the food remains attractive to eat. I think things have really moved forward in recent times. We have people like Maggie Beer and the team at Cater Care getting involved with improving the taste and appearance of the food that’s being provided in aged care facilities, it’s fantastic and now we have other creative people doing work with piping for pureed food, with amazing results”.
Cater Care Manager of Food Sean Anderson prepared two delicious dishes assisted by Chef Manager Ana Campos in a fun, interactive demonstration. Residents and their families were able to see how the dishes were prepared and encouraged to provide feedback ~ there were some great insights and lots of laughs.
The first dish of the day was a classic recipe of Slow Cooked Corned Beef with Creamy Mashed Potato and Cheese, Onion and Parsley Sauce. It was followed by a wonderful dessert of Vanilla Panna Cotta with Cinnamon Infused Black Cherry Compote.
The feedback was resoundingly positive with most requesting a second tasting!
Sean explained the moulding process and presented the modified dishes, which were very appealing. He showed us that preparing tasty, healthy food needn’t be expensive or time consuming. Sean also highlighted that as individuals, we all enjoy a sense of connection and belonging to a community and it’s because of this that Cater Care developed the Secrets From The Kitchen program.
“The program brings together aged care resident communities with an interactive cookery demonstration and it was certainly evident during our event with the Meath Care residents”. The best part of the event? Seeing our happy, smiling residents and their families getting involved, providing feedback and knowing they are a special part of the Meath Care and Cater Care communities. Meath Care would like to thank Cater Care for facilitating this wonderful event and for their ongoing contribution and commitment to the well-being and lifestyle of our residents.