Quality food in aged care starts with a passionate kitchen team

An aged care provider is spearheading how to better present and deliver food to aged care residents.

For-purpose aged care home VMCH followed Maggie Beer modules to train their staff on improving food quality and service during mealtimes.

Earlier last week, Labor's budget allocated $5 million to the Maggie Beer Foundation to educate workers in meeting 'new nutritional standards' for food service in residential aged care.

The VMCH also hired new staff, including general manager of hospitality Sally Bliesner, who joined the team in May.

She says delivering good food starts with a motivated team in the kitchen.

"You've got to have passionate chefs and leaders," Sally says.

"It's got to lead from the top because you've got to have those initiatives in place."

One of Sally's roles is to upgrade the quality and delivery of meals to enhance the residents' overall dining experience.

Aside from new menus, the crew also added different textures, colours, aromas and fresh herbs from the garden to the dishes.

Now, meals such as poached salmon with artichoke confit and strawberry basil shortcakes are among the weekly options residents can choose from.

"Choice makes people happy in aged care – it definitely does. It just adds to their happiness level," Sally says.

"The way you present food, how you serve someone at the table and assist residents; it all matters.

"They're all little one percenters that add up to making a big difference to how our residents enjoy their meals."

She says the Maggie Beer modules have helped tremendously because they focussed on boosting staff's knowledge of food and improving quality in an approachable way.

Through online courses, Maggie Beer teaches how chefs can add cooking techniques to their dishes for dramatic effects, how to plate food and rethink textures and aromas for maximum flavour. 

"It's really reinvigorated our chef managers," Sally says.

"It's given them a fresh insight into how they can present food. 

"Maggie's got a very strong onus on taste, aromas, atmosphere, and all of the other parts that really go into our residents enjoying their dining experience."

For the hospitality staff, the modules honed in on the importance of individualised service and the relationship between older people's nutrition and their specific bodily needs.

"We've done training on how to assist and clear tables," Sally says.

"And just the absolute basics of how their menu is presented and how to create atmosphere."

They've stopped using food trolleys in dining spaces and replaced metal spatulas with rubber ones, so there's no noise from plates and scraping.

Sally says she's seen 'big wins' for residents. For example, underweight residents have gained a few much-needed extra pounds because they're now eating their meals. 

The staff also thought about how food is delivered to people with dementia, as they often face specific challenges, such as forgetting what food they like or what they'd ordered. 

"If you are assisting somebody with a meal, it's important how you talk to them about their meal," Sally says.

"It can be as simple as someone sitting next to them and saying, 'Oh, now we're going to have some peas. Peas are something you enjoy.'

"It's just talking to them on their level and not being distracted."

As the sector has been facing significant workforce shortages, financial losses and added pressure during the pandemic, it might be more challenging for some providers to change their food delivery to residents. 

We can't change budgets – we know some providers are working within tough restrictions, and finances are tight in aged care, Sally says.

"But there are things that we can do just as people to change that experience, and a lot of it is just how we communicate and make our residents feel.

"Creating an atmosphere in a dining room, such as removing external noises and making the dining experience unique for our residents, is massively important. 

"Also, taste and aromas; being aware of aromas and how that changes our appetite."

Sally says that in today's society, it's easy to get caught up in the busyness of getting a task done rather than spending time individually with residents.

"Having the right team and people excited about food and aged care makes a difference."

"I feel very blessed to be in this role. I get to be on the front side and see the residents' reactions.

"It's exceptionally rewarding."

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