Different dietary needs can be challenging for nutritional staff
Monday February 11, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
When you work in the dietary department of a long-term care home you face many challenges on a daily basis, say department heads from two homes.

Dietary departments are responsible for preparing meals for residents. Staff members in dietary departments also assess new residents upon admission to evaluate their dietary needs.

The department also has to be cautious when it comes to ensuring that residents who are on special diets are receiving nutritional food while having their dietary needs met.

As part of protocol, Erlinda Tallim, nutritional manager at Leisureworld Caregiving Centre, Vaughan, says staff members are constantly looking at residents’ charts to make sure that they are getting food which doesn’t interfere with dietary needs.

There are meal auditing checks in place to make sure residents get the meals that suit their dietary needs and personal tastes.

There are different diet orders for each specific type of diet, Tallim explains. The orders are placed on what are called therapeutic menus which tells staff members what food items specific residents need to be given on specific days. This includes preparing lactose-free, gluten-free, renal and vegetarian diets.

To help meet these challenges, the home holds monthly in-services to discuss various issues surrounding nutrition in the long-term care home. The meetings, says Tallim, are an important tool to overcome challenges.

“That’s something that you need to have so there’s continuous learning and education,” she adds.

Erin Fraser, nutritional care manager at West Lake Terrace in Picton, says creating meals which are healthy, tasty and meet the dietary needs of residents can be a balancing act.

The stricter a resident’s diet is, the bigger the challenge, she adds.

“I have a resident who is on a gluten-free diet, so trying to find products and things that she likes is a bit of a challenge,” she says. “It’s not easy to get the products, and then she might not like them all.”

Portion size has also been an issue the OMNI Health Care-owned long-term care home has vigorously focused on. The nutritional care department avoids making portions too large because big plates of food may seem too difficult for residents to tackle.

“So, what we’ve tried to do is give them smaller portions, then they’re not overwhelmed with the food and turned off by it,” says Fraser. “Then they can have more if they like.”