A friend told me about her friend Anne starting a new job as a food server in a senior living community. She ran smack into a bully that pulled gloom down over everyone in the dining room. It was a sad place to be. She boldly criticized every other food server trying to get the residents to laugh at them. … Continue reading
Truth #4 The Individual Resident of this Generation is Different The younger Boomers are filling our communities today. A new ‘help-yourself cart’ on the side of the dining room will not satisfy their desires. Their refined palates want the variety of culture found in quality ethnic restaurants that their two-income households afforded them before retirement. They want espressos, lattes, and … Continue reading
Truth # 1 is a trumpet announcing that your dining room is the best marketing tool you have! It’s the authentic showcase to the public, the foundation of social life in your community. It’s where your residents will break bread with their family and friends during visits. When they don’t have visitors, mealtimes are when they connect with the other … Continue reading
From the most technical medical journals to health magazines, from survey after survey, medical research findings after medical findings, one thing is clear: positive human contact promotes healing and health. Positive human contact keeps people alive. Positive human contact is why we are all here, making life richer and deeper through our connections to the other. A satisfied employee is … Continue reading
Speaking Newsflash Learn how to make the dining experience in your community so unique you beat your competitors hands down. Come join the fun and education at the 6th Annual LeadingAge Washington-HPSI Food Service Professionals Workshop coming up on April 14, in Washington State. The full agenda, location and registration is below. I look forward to seeing you there. Come … Continue reading
Just like in an orchestra, where musician’s practice from individual sheet music to deliver a unified audience pleasing performance, in a successful dining room, every staff member needs to perform their individual part to please diners. In your community, do you have some employees who aren’t willing to lend a helping hand? It seems like a standard issue in every … Continue reading
An important element of caring for older adults as they share meals together is for staff who serve meals to fully grasp their own changing role and responsibilities around the table. The cultural shift in service quality requires servers at all levels of care and from all departments to demonstrate empathy. Listening to your own residents or watching short videos … Continue reading
I enjoyed working with Cindy Heilman and Janelle Asai in my geriatric rotation this term, it validated my choice to work as an RD in geriatric nutrition as a career! I had several take-away thoughts that changed my perspective about dining; My first was about empathy; Considering the barriers some of the elderly face regarding eating, such as visual impairments … Continue reading
Over the past 10 months, the staff at St. John’s Living Center in Jackson, Wyoming has been improving dining service, rewritten standards, and achieved positive results, under the direction and coaching of their dining committee and Sarah Graham, Staff Development RN and Kind Dining®(KD) Instructor. Here are the highlights of what they’ve accomplished; Better communication and teamwork between departments. “We … Continue reading
There is one hidden asset that has been the most powerful currency since the beginning of time and that’s love. I say hidden because love is not material or tangible, we cannot see it, not in the material sense anyway. If you think of the most powerful gift you’ve ever received in the world, chances are it wasn’t in a … Continue reading
