Page 24 - Life Happens in the Kitchen

Page 18
Recipe for Success
a-what’s the opportunity – terms/description
b-ups and downs c-regulatory considerations d-stories/examples
STAGE ONE: TRADITIONAL
1. Community Meals
a-Invite staff, family and community members into the resident’s dining experience for regularly scheduled monthly special meals. For example, a waffle breakfast or pancake supper with fruit and whipped cream toppings, and perhaps breakfast meats or fried eggs – pasteurized of course – on the side are inexpensive meals that will encourage community participation in resident dining. Department leaders can prepare and serve the meal using colorful disposables to add a festive flair. Crock pots, electric skillets and griddles brought from staff homes are all the equipment needed, but do think about power sources as you lay out the preparation and service stations.
b-The small increased food costs from sharing this inexpensive menu with others will be repaid many times over with positive public relations. From invitations in the local newspaper to write-ups in the local news columns, the hospitality benefits are worth the small cost. Make it a weekly event for even greater impact.
c-Follow standard infection control practices such as using tongs. Honoring resident requests while encouraging healthy diet choices, resident intake and enjoyment will provide the positive outcomes for regulatory success.
d-Northome Care Center, a Tealwood facility in Northome, MN, hosts a monthly waffle breakfast which is the gathering spot for residents, staff, resident family members and the wider community. The facility bus picks up community members from the town’s senior housing complex and from the senior center for a morning of fun, fellowship and public relations. Fresh wild blueberries in season add to the festivities, but the opportunity to strengthen relationships with friends by having breakfast together just like at the local cafe is the true cause for celebration.
Porch Swing SeriesTM Culture Change Workbooks ©2004-2005 Action Pact, Inc