What are the toughest problems older adults face in their communities today?

It isn’t the lack of a swimming pool or a 5-star restaurant.

Loneliness and isolation are at the top of the list. They are two challenges that became prevalent during the coronavirus pandemic and remain within many senior and assisted living communities. The huge loss of family members and dear friends hang heavily on elderly shoulders. But, these dilemmas can be met and reduced by training your food serving team and employees about kindness and friendliness. Knowing how to approach older adults with these skills and adding care to that list is not a talent one is born with. It is a learned skill. Once your team becomes aware of this resolution and practices being amiable, it can spread to include not only residents but coworkers and administration. Needless to say, adopting these kindness-based skills will improve their personal lives outside of the working day.

Friendliness goes in hand with kindness. Adding these skills to your training and practice sessions is imperative. The newly learned skills will set the ambiance in any dining room. It will create warmth to the table, reminiscent of the dining room in the home they left behind. In turn, this improves their nutrition and becomes a connection of healthcare to hospitality, harmony, and happiness. All of these words lead to the word ‘care.’ It’s what is desired most in Long Term Care and assisted living communities. Allow your employees to care about their work, the residents they serve, the team they work with, and the company they work for. Let them commit. Once employees incorporate these assets from your training and discussion meetings, they will form a desired way of life.

Kind Dining® curriculum is uniquely designed to improve the lives of those working and living in senior and assisted care communities. Hospitality is a universal language and core to skills necessary to your food serving staff. Remember that your dining service is central to the success of your community. Kind Dining® training guides your food servers into being your company’s most valuable asset. A few important facts to remember for now and the future are: mealtimes market your community, residents spend 60% of their day focused on mealtimes, investing in your employees is the effective path to culture change, the organization’s success, and kindness is a healthy habit.

Be ♥ Kind Tip: Remember that kindness is a healthy habit!