3 Ways to Advocate for Higher Standards in Your Dining Room
April 9, 2012
This week, the health care industry celebrates National Patient Advocacy Week (April 9th – 13th), which started me thinking about how senior living communities can advocate on behalf of residents for higher standards in the dining room.
Here are three easy tips for fostering hospitality and service improvement in your community:
- Shift your service focus to put residents’ needs first—and encourage your dining service team to do so as well.
- Teach your staff the importance dining has for the overall health and well-being of the community.
- Share your copies of Kind Dining® Connection with your staff. The Be Kind tips are perfect for passing out to servers or posting in the break room. The Activities Director or Dining Manager will appreciate the Table Tip. News and best practices articles will be helpful to managers and team leads.
Reader Letter: Dad and the Mystery Mush
April 5, 2012
Dear Cindy,
No mystery mush for me, please.
Your recent Kind Dining® Connection article, Mechanical Art Comes of Age, brought to mind a situation with my Dad that happened 4 years ago when he was in the physical rehab center.
They brought him his meal; we couldn’t identify it. We could see it was some sort of pureed protein mush in a heap. Hot dogs were on the menu. He tasted it. Sure enough, hot dog.
I said, “Dad, why are they pureeing your food?”
He said, “I don’t know; it’s been that way since I got here. That nurse I don’t like walked into my room and said, ‘I need to see your teeth.’ So, I showed her my teeth. And my food has always arrived pureed.”
My Dad could chew just fine with his teeth, although he was missing some teeth (we got him dentures not long after).
So I asked, “Well, did she ask you if you had problems chewing?”
“No,” Dad said.
“Were you eating pureed food at the hospital? Could the doctor have sent this order?” I pressed.
“No, I had regular food at the hospital,” Dad said, “She’s the only one who has ever given me pureed food.”
Needless to say, I tracked down someone who could change my Dad’s orders to regular food, but I was shocked a nurse would just look in his mouth, never ask him, and then make the decision to send pureed food.
Also, according to Dad, pureed hot dog is really disgusting.
<shudder>
Keep up the good work, Cindy. Our beloved elders need us to raise dining service standards in our healthcare and senior living communities.
LLF
New eyes’ for nursing homes through QIS in Long-Term Living Magazine
March 8, 2012
Even when putting resident needs first is a clear intention, it may take new eyes to see where and how transforming change must occur.
My latest e-article for Long-Term Living Magazine, New Eyes’ for Nursing Homes Through QIS, talks about the new QIS expectations and how to take a fresh perspective in your senior living community.
How about you? What do you see when you look around your senior living community? Are better relationships being built? Are you defining and achieving higher standards of service quality? Are you educating staff about new skills and responsibilities?
I’d love to hear about your challenges and successes. Feel free to post your stories below in the comments section.
What Up in Sunny Long Beach, Calif.?
May 2, 2010
Flying into sunny Long Beach California from Portland Oregon was smooth sailing. The weather is lovely, bright warm sunshine, slight breeze. I see bunches of swaying palm trees. I am here to co-present with Harold Urman at the Aging Services of California annual conference on Tuesday afternoon May 4 from 2:15-4:15. Our presentation is called, It’s Not Just a Meal Anymore. Harold will highlight research validating the competitive advantage of meeting resident dining expectations and I will share how to turn research into actions and improved server behaviors you can use tomorrow to improve hospitality and service in your communities. See you there!
Teaching Respect
April 2, 2010
My husband had minor foot surgery early this morning and as the nurse put the final wrap on his foot, she asked me what I do for work. I shared, I teach food servers in senior living communities how to show good service to elder folks. She immediately reacted with a big surprised smile and blurted “that is so needed! Younger people just don’t know how to show respect to older people!” Read more
