Dietitian-approved menus help give older adults the dignity, respect and choices they deserve.

Every senior care center resident has the right to an exceptional experience at mealtime, regardless of their capabilities or special requirements. Achieving this goal can, however, be a challenge – and that’s where a food menu program comes in.

A menu planning systems, especially those with delicious, dietitian-approved menus, can help ensure that mealtime is satisfying for all of your residents.

Menus for Seniors with Special Health Needs

Diabetic residents must follow a carefully-controlled, low-carbohydrate meal plan in order to regulate their blood sugar. Older adults with high blood pressure and heart conditions need to follow a low-sodium diet.

And those are just two examples. Seniors with other serious health conditions may also have specific dietary requirements.

Dietary restrictions shouldn’t prevent residents from enjoying the same types of interesting meals and tasty flavor profiles as their non-restricted peers. With dietitian-approved menus, seniors with special health needs don’t have to feel deprived when they see the meals others are served.

Everyone – no matter their dietary needs — gets to enjoy crave-worthy food at every mealtime.

Menus for Seniors on Pureed Diets

Many older adults have difficulty chewing or swallowing, so senior care centers provide a pureed diet program. Focus is placed on nutrition and taste, both of which are essential. However, in many cases, presentation is lacking.

We eat with our eyes first, no matter how old we may be. And, if we’re honest about it, pureed foods generally look unappealing.

Food that looks good can help boost senior appetite and increase mealtime food consumption.

A dietitian-approved food menu program can address this problem. Swapping out prefabricated items for fresh, seasonal foods makes for more appealing meals. Seniors also appreciate when pureed foods are artfully arranged, rather than served from prepackaged institutional containers.

Menus for Seniors with Limited Dexterity

Older adults with physical challenges often find mealtime difficult to manage on their own. Rather than staff assistance with feeding, many senior care centers turn to finger foods.

A finger food program helps preserve mealtime dignity for seniors with limited dexterity, but finding ways to serve a balanced diet through handheld bites can be difficult. That’s why so many healthy, easy-to-prepare meals require the use of silverware.

Dietitian-approved food menu programs include plans for attractive, well-balanced meals that allow older adults to maintain their mealtime independence. The menus use the same fresh, nutrient-rich and flavorful ingredients as the standard meal plans, but everything is made in a mouthwatering finger food form.

For an easy-to-use, cost-effective way to improve mealtime for all of your senior care center residents, explore the Grove Menus meal planning system. With thousands of scalable and customizable dietitian-approved recipes, our food menu program can help you provide healthy and delicious meals to everyone, regardless of their needs.

To schedule a free demonstration of our food planning program and dietitian-approved menus, contact Grove Menus today.