Savoring the Dining Experience

Mealtime is a very significant part the day. It is a time to nourish and 'refuel' - but also to socialize and unwind. This doesn't change when people move to seniors housing. In fact, the dining experience may become even more important.

Having a say in what to eat, and in what kind of environment, enables senior housing residents to maintain the type of dining experience they were accustomed to before moving to assisted living. To accommodate this desire, many communities offer dining rooms complete with wait-service, entertainment and, of course, top-notch cuisine. Some menus even include delicacies such as filet mignon and prime rib. There certainly is a trend to go from institutional foods to more high-end foods, says food consultant Meureen Boyle of Boyle consulting. At the same time, she added, residents also still demand what she calls 'comfortable foods' such as macaroni and cheese and meatloaf.Combining the old way with the new way, Maureen says, seems to work best. What is most important is to offer choices.

A high-quality dining experience is a key ingredient for customer satisfaction in long-term care, according to ALFA's 1000 National Assisted Living Resident Satisfaction Study. While quality of care is always of foremost importance when selecting a senior housing environment for oneself or a loved one, the 'quality-of-life' services, such as dining, can make each day more enjoyable. When gauging the quality of dining services in a senior housing community, Maureen Boyle advises making sure the staff provides good 'wait-style' customer service, waits on one table at a time (serving everyone at the table simultaneously) and treats each resident as an honored guest. It's also important to look for menus that are reasonably varied to suit individual tastes. A variety of serving styles is essential as well. Instead of ordering at the table and having their food brought to them, some residents may prefer to dine buffet-style from time to time. Many residences offer all of these choices.

If a physician places a resident on a special diet, it's important to ascertain that the food services staff can tailor meals to meet the resident's nutritional needs. It can be a challenge motivating a resident to eat who is on a special diet, especially if the food they've been prescribed is not the food they want to eat. To make this easier, meals should appeal to all of the senses. Taste, texture and color should balance out as much as possible and meals should be eye-catching. Overall, the better trained the food services staff, the greater the customer satisfaction will be.

As you tour an assisted living or retirement residence, ask these key questions:

- Does the residence provide three nutritionally balanced meals a day, every day?
- Are snacks available?
- May a resident request special foods?
- Are common dining areas available?
- May residents eat meals in their units?
- May meals be provided at a time residents would like, or are there set times?

The dining experience in senior housing has changed a great deal over the years with a focus on greater customer service and satisfaction. The good news is that senior communities are listening more to what residents want and going out of their way to provide a meal that is both pleasurable and reminiscent of the way residents have been used to eating all of their lives.