It can get stressful and tiresome for senior citizens to prepare three good meals on a day to day basis. The good news is now they can resort to picking healthy options due to convenience. At this age, they may even feel nervous about going to a grocery store to shop. Being elderly, they need to continue taking vitamins and nutrient-rich foods. There are several options available that can take care of their food without compromising on their dietary requirements.
When you choose the best assisted living community for your elderly loved one, they can accommodate their specific foodservice requirements with chef-prepared snacks and meals all through the day within a controlled environment. But when it comes to dining in senior living communities, most of us have out-dated ideas. However, that is a myth because menus in senior living communities no longer comprise boring and bland stereotypes that most people have.
Explore the Different Dining Options
- Multiple Dining Venues – Menu ideas in senior living communities no longer have geriatric diet plans filled with heavy starches and bland proteins. The truth is, the disinterest towards food for senior people is no longer limited only to the menu. Here the venue plays a crucial role. Currently, senior dining culture comprises flexible meals with pals, which fits the older adults’ schedules. Seniors to this end expect restaurant-style dining in a senior living community.
Above all, they look for various healthy dining choices. They want pubs, bistros, coffee shops, and sit-down restaurants- venues having the same convenience and personality as a mainstream foodservice provider. Keeping this in mind, most modern senior living communities have renovated their facilities to offer the best dining programs to esteemed seniors.
- Dining with Dignity – The palettes of two residents cannot be the same. Similarly, every elderly is different with regards to the support level that they require for eating independently. Some may have memory loss, while others may be in a wheelchair. Thus, leading senior living communities uses food preparation techniques that allow seniors to dine with dignity. Their menus are made around familiar dishes and prepared for making it simpler for seniors in using fine motor skills of their level, or no utensils at all for eating them.
The chefs in these senior living communities emphasize using fresh ingredients and recipes that are popular for re-creating bite-sized portions that can be handled, chewed, and swallowed quickly. These meals are beautifully paired with garnishes, sides, and sauces to fit every senior’s taste. Dining with dignity and allowing the elderly to take pleasure in their dining experience will ensure that their intake is nutritious. These special dining services are available in communities that offer assisted living for those who use a wheelchair.
- Gourmet Meals – A key trend of today’s modern senior living facilities is the chef’s credentials in designing the menus. Rather than hiring people from the senior care industry or medical field, these communities employ skilled chefs and dining room staff with hospitality backgrounds. This new trend is not surprising. Clients in these assisted living have more savings, better-earning power, better educations, and awareness of the difference between a gourmet meal and hospital food.
- Flexitarian Diets – Vegan and vegetarian diets can be a lifestyle that is challenging to sustain. The senior living world is experiencing a need for flexitarian options. It is a form of eating, which is the extended version of vegetarianism. This encourages plant-based foods mostly while moderating the intake of animal-based proteins. Chefs at senior living communities try to provide new means of introducing in their menu plant-based proteins. Besides offering health benefits to seniors, flexitarian diets are relatively affordable than traditional poultry and red meats.
- Maximize Outdoor Space – To convert a patio to an additional dining area will be an excellent means of reaping the perks of outdoor space as well as natural air circulation. Adding outdoor kitchens, such as a mobile bar, cooler, and grill, can provide a unique dining experience to a senior .that is unique and cut down the staff’s trips to a kitchen. To host a socially distanced and safe food truck at night daily is a smart means that senior living communities use to maximize outdoor space. Along with helping to draw seniors outside, it also fosters a better bond with the local community.
As people get old, enjoying their favorite meal and staying connected can become quite challenging as traveling to meet up with friends, cooking, and grocery shopping becomes difficult. It takes a toll on the elder’s emotional well-being and, with time, also hampers their nutritional wellness. Although there are several vital parts of senior living communities that make them ideal for senior citizens, the structure and quality of a community’s dining program is a big contributor to an excellent overall experience.