Good food in aged care

I have recently had an ulcer on my tongue- ouch! I hadn't realised how important my tongue is to chew- it has been hard to move food around my mouth when eating. I struggle to clear food out from my teeth and to chew food well. I have also noticed it is hard to speak properly with a sore tongue. It made me think of all the aged care residents I see who eat with weak tongue muscles- whether this is due to having had a stroke or dementia.

I have been collecting photos of food from the aged care facilities I work at to show the great food produced to help our residents eat well. Aged care food has had some bad press lately, and for good reason, as some facilities focus more on making profit than caring for residents and sometimes good food is definitely lacking. However the facilities I work in produce quality meals as most of it is cooked fresh on site.

Some meals are not perfect and it is a work in progress. I have been working with my speech pathology colleague, Janice Seton, about making sure our facilities provide food of the correct texture after the new international diet standards were introduced in May this year.

It is a pleasure to work with staff who take pride in the food they produce. I aim to help all staff see that we are working together to help our residents eat well and avoid weight loss.