Cover Story - Advertising feature
‘Food-first’: Putting nutrition at the heart of care
A ‘food-first’ approach is a cornerstone of person-centred care
Care homes are caring for residents with increasingly complex needs. Many are living with frailty, dementia or swallowing difficulties. At the same time, care teams are working under significant operational pressure. In this context, the wider role catering can play in residents’ lives can be overlooked. However, few aspects of care touch a
resident’s life as often as food and drink. Mealtimes provide opportunities to support health, encourage independence and enable social connection, while providing structure, pleasure and dignity.
Why ‘food-first’ matters Maintaining a good nutritional intake can become increasingly difficult with age. Changes in appetite, illness, medication side
Volume 11 Issue 9 October 2026
CARE HOME
ENVIRONMENT
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
Food-first: Putting nutrition at the heart of care
Why care funding is priced to fail
Denville hall: Designing for
the next 100 years
effects, cognitive decline, poor dentition and swallowing difficulties can all affect how much a resident eats and drinks. People living in care homes or requiring care are recognised as being at increased risk of poor nutritional status and malnutrition.1 The scale of the challenge is significant.
BAPEN’s 2023 ‘Malnutrition and nutritional care survey’ reported that 42 per cent of adults screened in participating care homes were at risk of malnutrition using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST).2 A ‘food-first’ approach asks care homes
to think earlier, more consistently and more holistically about the role food and drink play in everyday wellbeing. Food should not be viewed only as a response to nutritional risk. High-quality food provision should be recognised as an essential part of high-quality care for every resident, every day. Nutrition science and meeting nutritional
requirements are both essential. Older adults need adequate, and in some cases increased, energy, protein, fluid, fibre, vitamins and minerals to help support health and wellbeing.3
For residents with reduced
appetite or increased needs, food may need to be more nourishing, more frequent and more carefully planned. However, a nutritionally balanced meal
cannot provide benefit if it is left uneaten. This is why the dining experience also matters.
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com October 2026 ‘Food-first’ therefore brings together two
essential ideas: nutritional adequacy and resident experience.
What does ‘food-first’ mean in practice? A ‘food-first’ approach is not a single intervention but a whole-home culture, embedding food and drink into care planning, rather than it sitting separately as a catering task. In practice, a ‘food-first’ approach means
making nutrition visible in everyday routines: noticing when a resident eats less than usual, offering timely alternatives, sharing information between care and catering teams, and recording concerns so that support can be reviewed. While food is not a replacement for
medical treatment, dietetic advice or clinical care when needed, it is a powerful part of the wider care environment. ESPEN guidance on nutrition and hydration in older people emphasises the importance of routinely screening for malnutrition, supporting oral nutrition through food fortification
THE
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