Aged Care Nutrition Services

Nutrition Professionals Australia have the nutrition expertise to assist you with a solution that is tailored to your organisation and your food service.

Up to 50% of residents in aged care homes are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. These figures are somewhat less in the community but older people living in their own home or in a retirement community or serviced apartment remain at risk of an inadequate intake. Appetites are often small, there may be medical problems leading to reduced intake, or there may be difficulty in accessing nutritious foods.

Aged care menus must be reviewed at least regularly to ensure that they meet consumers' needs and aged care quality standards.

An audit of the menu is far more than simply looking at the menu structure itself. The menu on paper does not always reflect what is actually served and does not necessarily ensure that consumers receive an adequate diet.

Our audits of menu and nutrition care aim to identify the links between food service and nutrition care of residents. We aim to identify gaps in provision of nutrition care and strategies for quality improvement.

Nutrition Professionals Australia provides a comprehensive menu and food service audit that includes:

• A visit to your organisation to meet with key catering, nursing and care staff
• Audits of serve sizes
• Review of documentation
• Review of nutrition and special diet policy and procedures
• Identification of processes to identify malnutrition and provide nutrition support
• Quantitative assessment of nutrition provided to residents
• Identification of how food service integrates into nutrition care
• Comprehensive report with recommendations to meet best practice and aged care quality standards. The repotrt is written directly agains the standards to be able to feed into your quality improvement processes.

We can offer:

• Review of menu and core food groups only
• Premium review of menu and nutrition care processes
• Nutrition analysis of recipes or the entire menu
• Desktop audits if an on site visit is not possible

It is acknowledged that a site visit is always preferable but this may not always be possible, and aged care quality standards require that menus are regularly reviewed by a dietitian. A suitably qualified and experienced dietitian is not always available, especially in rural areas, so we're here to help.

Nutrition Professionals Australia has developed a cost-effective method of ensuring that your menu is meeting the needs of your residents. Request a remote audit, and we will:  

• Send you a questionnaire about your menu and food service
• Ask you to weigh meals and provide documentation about nutrition care
• Schedule an interview via videoconferencing
• Provide a detailed report and recommendations for quality improvements

Nutrition Professionals Australia can also provide an Accredited Practising Dietitian to attend your care home on a regular basis to monitor and facilitate a range of food and nutrition services including:

• Review of individual residents' nutrition care
• Attendance at catering or nutrition care meetings
• Development and implementation of a nutrition screening tool to identify residents at risk of malnutrition
• Flowchart for nutrition supplementation and monitoring of residents' nutrition status
• Advice regarding most appropriate and cost effective supplements
• Review of texture modified diets and thickened fluids
• Implementation of new IDDSI guidelines
• Review of diabetes management
• Special diets guidelines
• Recipe analysis and review
• Troubleshooting

Monthly visits to the care home are recommended, but other time frames can be negotiated.

Our Accredited Practising Dietitians is able to review the nutrition and dietary needs of your residents:

• Assess resident nutrition issues and requirements
• Assess nutrition status
• Develop nutrition care plans
• Liaise with medical, nursing and food services staff to ensure optimal care
• Contribute to the nutrition  care plan
• Plovide a meal plan for food services or care staff

Remote consulting is a great way to save on travel costs and to keep in regular touch with a dietitian about your residents. All you need is a computer and a webcam or a laptop with the webcam built-in. So easy!

Call us and request a remote consultation. We will:   

• Send you a list of the information we need about the resident   
• Review all information provided
• Speak to you via phone or web-based app
• Discuss relevant issues relating to the nutrition care of the resident
• Speak to the consumer via web-based app too if appropriate
• Provide a written report that can be entered into the medical record
• Provide a written meal plan for the care plan and the kitchen

We can tailor an education session for staff to suit the needs of your organisation.

Popular topics include:

• Nutrition in the elderly
• Malnutrition
• Nutrition screening
• Dysphagia and texture modified diets
• Thickened fluids
• Diabetes care
• Wound care
• Falls prevention
• Enteral feeding
• Special diets
• We can provide 1 hour, 2 hours, half-day or full-day programs.

We can also coordinate seminars with other allied health professionals such as diabetes nurse educators and speech pathologists.

Please call (08) 8227 1000 for a quote.

Are you ready to build a First-class food services program in your Aged Care Home?

From understanding how the nutritional needs of older people are different, improving the dining experience, creating meal plans and mastering a food first approach... We’ll show you how to create a first-class service in your facility even if you have no formal training or industry experience.

Meal Plans for Older People is a benchtop guide to nutrition care and therapeutic or special diets when catering for older people.

It provides a summary of nutrition for an older person, some information regarding menu planning as well as a meal plan for each of the various special diets that are likely to be encountered.

NPA have developed a variety of resources for Dietitians and for Aged Care Homes.

• Client Education Resources and
  Aged Care Resources for Dietitians
• Information for Aged Care Homes
• Online Training Programs