The Food is Fantastic for Richardson House residents
Richardson House
‘Food for thought’
Many of you may have seen reports in the media regarding food that is being served to Residents in Aged Care Facilities. Unfortunately, as often the case, these articles only focus on the bad and do not represent the facilities that are doing a good job.
Our local facility Richardson House prepares all Resident meals in house, cooked using fresh ingredients sourced where possible from local suppliers such as meat and fruit and vegetables. The Aged Care Standards require facilities to create a “home like” environment, and the aroma that comes from the preparation of food helps to add to that atmosphere.
Dieticians are consulted regularly regarding the content of food (fat, protein etc) and when it comes to the texture of food speech pathologists are requested to review individual Residents to see if they require any assistance with their meals. This can be anything from changing the texture depending on individual needs (of which there are three standards Soft, Minced and Moist or Pureed), to providing special cutlery or crockery to Residents to enable them to maintain independence when it comes to consuming their food. Preparing meals for the Residents of Richardson House is a far cry from the ”everything in a blender” or “from a packet in the freezer” that TV and Newspaper reports would have you believe.
Richardson House conducts regular Resident meetings where feedback on everything from the activities on offer, to the quality and type of meals is discussed. Residents are also encouraged to speak to the staff or Facility Manager if they have any issues, including likes and dislikes when it comes to meals. All facilities are also required to offer a compliments and complaints process where Residents, their families, visitors and staff can lodge a concern with the facility (anonymously if so wished). There are also avenues where complaints can be escalated should anyone feel that their concern has not been dealt with properly by the facility itself.
As you can imagine, it can be distressing for Aged Care workers who genuinely care for their Residents and work hard to ensure that they receive excellent care, like the staff that work at Richardson House, to constantly witness the barrage of negative press that Aged Care Facilities receive.
Richardson House has an excellent Facebook page that allows members of the community and families and friends of Relatives to get regular updates on what has been happening. Anyone who is interested is encouraged to follow.
Jo Bridges
Facility Manager, Richardson House
