Dietitian-approved menus provide flavorful and balanced meal options for residents living adult care facilities. With careful planning, menus for assisted living centers, nursing homes and group homes can regularly meet residents’ nutritional needs and improve health and well-being.

Proper nutrition is important, but it isn’t the only consideration that your food service staff must address. Dietitians and meal planners must also consider costs, cultural factors, flavor and variety.

Meal Planning Must Consider Cultural Preferences

Ethnic, cultural and religious customs significantly influence our food preferences. What we like to eat – and what we are willing to eat – depends greatly on how and where we are raised.

Since residents of adult care facilities come from a wide variety of backgrounds, dietitians and menu planners must offer meals that meet all residents’ cultural needs. Otherwise, meals may be rejected and nutrition may suffer.

Meal planning staff must spend time talking with facility residents about food preferences and restrictions. It may also be helpful to speak with family members or caregivers, as they can provide more information about which types of foods are best – and which are best left off the plate.

In addition, food menus for adult facilities should include meals that are representative of the cultures of the residents. Favorite ethnic foods can be celebrated and enjoyed by people of all backgrounds.

Dietitian-Approved Menus Require Variety

There’s nothing wrong with serving tacos every Tuesday or seafood every Friday. In fact, residents look forward to eating their favorite foods often.

However, dietitians and meal planners must add a healthy variety to care home menus. Residents won’t be happy –and their nutritional needs won’t be met – if your facility serves the same meals week after week. Favorite foods can have recurring spots on the menu, as long as they are prepared using different ingredients and preparation methods on occasion.

For example, instead of always serving ground beef soft tacos with tomato salsa, you can serve fish tacos with corn salsa. Or, instead of traditional pepperoni pizza, substitute Mexican pizza or sausage and cheese calzones.

Adding new foods and ingredients to meal plans is a great way to add variety. But, serving familiar foods in a variety of forms, shapes and textures can also help boost enjoyment and interest in adult care facility menus.

Cost as a Factor in Dietitian-Approved Menus

Nutrition, food preferences and variety are all essential components of appropriate meal plans for assisted living centers, nursing homes and group homes. Just as important, however, is cost. The cost factor is a key reason that facility managers may shy away from hiring a staff dietitian.

Food costs must be controlled when planning menus. Meal ingredients must be precisely ordered and tracked. Labor costs must also be carefully managed. Dietitians cannot create menu plans without considering expenses, as adult facilities operate under a strict budget. However, with resident well-being at the forefront of their minds, staff dietitians may campaign for expanding the food budget.

Developing cost-effective, delicious and nutritious meals that your residents will enjoy isn’t always easy. You can make it much easier and more cost effective by adopting an automated menu planning program that already includes dietitian-approved menus. The Grove Menus meal planning program simple to use, saving both time and money while ensuring your residents’ nutritional needs are met. Contact us today to learn more about our program and our dietitian-approved menus.