Cover story Care home teams will know only too
well how difficult it can be for a resident living with dementia to fasten a button or switch on a light or pick something. We see Finger Foods Bites as a key part of a nutritional strategy for a care home to overcome difficulties using cutlery and delay the need for assisted feeding. Food is one of life’s simple pleasures.
We believe - as do all the care homes that we work with - that residents should all be able to enjoy dining with dignity with meals they can look forward to eating.
Proof in the pudding HICA Group, which has 12 care homes spread across the UK, feeding residents each day - many of who live with dementia - has worked in collaboration with apetito in trialling the new range. HICA chief executive Terry Peel describes Finger Foods Bites as “highly innovative” and said his team was “blown away” by the range and they had “never seen anything like it before”. “Those residents in our care were
able to share a balanced nutritious meal with the rest of the dining room, without mess and their usual ‘beige’ buffet! The Bites taste great too,” said Peel. “We’re confident that our residents
will clean their plates, enabling them to gain weight and dine independently with dignity. We can’t wait to have these on our menu permanently,” he added. Visual appearance is also important
to care homes as we all ‘eat with our eyes’. For food to truly be part of residents’ care, it not only needs to be nutritious – it needs to taste and look good too. The science is that sight of food
provides our brains with sensory information that triggers our bodies’ physiological responses. These responses include saliva production in the mouth and gut motility, which prepares our bodies to eat and drives appetite. Taste is a critical factor in all apetito’s meals and Finger Foods Bites is no
Vegetarian range
exception. The quality and taste of our meals is central to everything we do – a recent survey indicated that 70 per cent of people surveyed said the presentation of their food impacted on whether they were likely to eat it. We are confident Finger Food Bites has really captured the flavour of traditional dishes.
Ham & leek
Conclusion For many residents, mealtimes are the focal point of the day to be enjoyed and looked forward to receiving. We all have a strong emotional connection with food – providing a well presented and delicious meal can spark fond memories, improve moods and generally support wellbeing. There are 11 dishes in the range
offering choice and variety. For further information, visit https://www.apetito.
co.uk/care-home-meal-services/.
Salmon supreme
Finger Foods Bites allow residents the freedom to pick up and put down a complete hot meal with no mess and with minimal residue left on fingers
October 2021 •
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
Reference 1. Alzheimer Europe, Loss of co-ordination and manual skills,
https://www.alzheimer-
europe.org/Living-with-dementia/ Caring-for-someone-with-dementia/ Medical-and-physical-issues/Loss-of-co- ordination-and-manual-skills.
Contact details
apetito Richard Woodward, general manager Tel: 01225 637 503 Email:
richard.woodward@apetito.co.uk www.apetito.co.uk/
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