Read Article on Villa Crest: “CHALLENGES AND OUTCOMES”
How does Kind Dining® contribute to resident well-being and quality of life? Kathy O’Hara, Registered Dietitian at Villa Crest Nursing Retirement Center, shares some of the changes she’s witnessed since this award-winning senior living community implemented Kind Dining® Training.
Since we implemented Kind Dining® training, residents eat better, socialize more, and have family members come to eat with them. They are not just eating for nutrition, they are eating for quality of life. We’ve always had low rates of significant weight loss, but now we have no unexpected weight losses. Now that our dining rooms support socialization at mealtime, people aren’t eating because “the dietitian says they have to,” residents eat because they are happy and want to–and because they have choices about what they eat. Spouses and family members come frequently for mealtimes, so we’re helping to preserve those important bonds and foster new relationships throughout the community. Staff has gotten to know the residents much better and have even learned people’s dining preference, departments are cooperating like never before, and we are all focusing on meeting the residents’ needs. There are just so many aspects that have come together at once, you really need to see it to realize the depth and breadth of what is going on here–and we’re doing all this on a nursing home budget!”
Kathy O’Hara, RD,
Villa Crest Nursing Retirement Center, Manchester, NH
Read what other RDs and DTRs are saying about Kind Dining®. Interested in learning more? Register today for our newest webinar: How to Meet the Demanding Dining Needs of Boomers. Presented by Cindy Heilman, MS, DTR. Sponsored by Becky Dorner & Assoc.