Webwatch – Menus Count in Care
A brand new site has been launched to help care homes and providers plan healthy menus for service-users in Wales.
‘Menus Count in Care’ is aimed at nursing and residential homes and is a project developed by Torfaen Council and Aneurin Bevan University Health Board.
It aims to raise the skills of care providers to plan menus and provide well-balanced and nutritious meals for residents in nursing and residential homes.
The website includes a menu planning resource, a range of recipes that meet a minimum nutrition standard, and common conditions faced by those in care.
It was launched by the deputy Older People’s Commissioner for Wales at the Parkway Hotel in Cwmbran, where staff from nursing and residential homes in Torfaen were able to test the website and start creating menus.
Although some of the content is specific to Wales, the site offers some really useful tips which could be applied wherever you are.
For example, there are guides to improve your knowledge of:
- Helping someone in your care to improve a poor appetite
- Assisting a person with eating and drinking correctly
- Knowing how to overcome taste changes
- Learning about what foods and fluids may help with common conditions
- Adopting a ‘food first’ approach to patient care
- Knowing how to help your resident while waiting for a specialist Dietetic assessment.
If you provide care in a home and are looking for ideas or need help planning your menus, the site is worth a visit. Click here: http://menuscount.org.uk/
