Training improves dining experience and residents’ quality of life at BaptistCare Orana
Michele Buxton moved into the aged care sector after looking into aged care homes for her mother.
The residential manager at BaptistCare Orana says, ‘I just love working in aged care. It’s so fulfilling and beautiful to be part of the residents’ lives every day.’
A long-term Maggie Beer fan and keen cook herself, Michele didn’t think twice about signing BaptistCare Orana up to the Maggie Beer Foundation’s Trainer Mentor Program. The program pairs staff with a qualified chef trainer to improve residents’ food, nutrition and dining experience. The training also helps aged care homes prepare to meet a new dedicated food and nutrition Aged Care Quality Standard under the new Aged Care Act.
‘I'm a big fan of Maggie Beer. I had faith that the things she can teach our staff will be really valuable. It's about providing our staff with the tools and knowledge to serve our residents,’ says Michele.
Michele knows the difference food makes for quality of life and enjoyment.
‘I love to feed people, right? I feel like putting that into the home as well. A lot of people, their days are just divided up into those meals,’ says Michele.
BaptistCare Orana has a diverse resident group with different preferences and needs.
‘We cater for all kinds of people. People with varying levels of ability. People with varying cognitive abilities. We have veterans, First Nations residents, people from varying ethnic backgrounds, people living with dementia. We try and cater for all their needs,’ says Michele.
‘It is absolutely the residents’ home and we’re there for their benefit.’
Before applying for the training, Michele was confident that they served delicious food. But nutritional fortification, presentation and the dining experience were things they wanted to improve on.
‘Our focus is just to make the whole experience better. So, I was looking at food presentation because you can make food that's absolutely tasty, but you eat with your eyes first, right?’ says Michele.
‘There's been training on how to present things, how to serve the meals. If you go to a restaurant, you know they don't whisk a plate away before somebody's actually finished their dinner.
‘You don't leave the main meal plates splayed on the table while the residents are having dessert. It's just those niceties like that. Some of the things that we'd already started to introduce were really reinforced in the training.’
The training has also helped BaptistCare Orana maximise the nutrition of every meal.
‘There's a lot of work about your protein needs, making sure we have enough protein in each meal. Making sure it’s really healthy for residents,’ says Michele.
A big issue in aged care can be loneliness. Food plays an important part in providing residents with more lifestyle opportunities.
‘I've been at Orana for two years now. When I first got there, I was really surprised about the number of residents who stay in their rooms, by choice,’ says Michele.
‘What we've focused the team on, for a couple of years now, was trying to look at that whole dining experience to encourage residents to come out of their room.’
As well as providing delicious and visually appealing meals, BaptistCare Orana regularly has themed cultural meals, wine tastings and demonstrations from the chef manager to encourage that connection between residents.
Michele believes this ongoing work has helped combat loneliness.
‘We've certainly had less people reporting that they're lonely and we've had lots of people commenting on the food,’ says Michele.
‘And [chef manager] Darren is very responsive with feedback. If somebody should say they didn't like the food, he will go and speak to the resident individually and say, “what can we do?”’
Michele is an advocate for Maggie Beer Foundation’s training. With free online modules available to everyone, training is ‘very accessible’.
She has also been impressed with their willingness to share materials. ‘We've been able to share the information with our other BaptistCare facilities and other facilities on the Central Coast,’ says Michele.
Staff quickly got on board with the changes.
‘At the start there was a bit of hesitation because it's a lot of work. But they’ve been grateful for the opportunity. It’s something they can take with them for the rest of their career,’ says Michele.
‘I think they can see that it's beneficial for everybody.
‘I just think it's just a great program. It not only benefits the residents, it benefits the staff.’
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