SPONSORED – As providers in the aged care sector look at the importance food plays in the health and wellbeing of their clients, it has become clear that more needs to be done to give older people access to enough tasty food that meets their nutritional needs.
Only last week, the Government released a report that found that almost 25% of aged care providers are still spending less than $10 per resident per day on food, making the creation of nutritious meals a challenge.
About 8% of older Australians accessing home care are malnourished or at risk of being malnourished, and between 40 – 70% of aged care residents experience malnutrition, although that number is assumed to be an underestimation and is likely to be higher.
Consuming more key nutrients like protein, calcium and fibre through whole foods instead of relying on oral supplements is integral for older people.
To ensure these nutrition gaps are filled while the sector is reforming, meal delivery service, Lite n’ Easy is offering providers another alternative to ensure they can meet their client’s nutritional needs. The ready meal delivery provider offers high energy and high protein food options that can be delivered through their My Choice range – specifically designed with home care and residential aged care clients in mind.
Improving the food delivered to older people
It is common to see a reduction in appetite among older people and they end up reaching for snacks like biscuits or tea and toast, which do not contain enough calories to sustain nutrition and health.
When feeding older people, Senior Dietitian at Lite n’ Easy, Ashleigh Jones, said it is important they eat as many whole or unrefined foods as possible, but recent reports have shown that isn’t always accessible or available.
“Food is medicine and something that has a real clinical impact,” Ms Jones explained.
“Older people need to have the means to access healthy food and also ensure the food available is really tasty and fits people’s taste preferences, nutritional needs and cultural needs.”
The My Choice range can be accessed for your home care or residential aged care clients, offering 235 different meals and snacks created by chefs and dietitians in line with the Australian Dietary guidelines, the Meals on Wheels National meal guidelines and other research resources.
After talking with older clients about what they like to eat and how they would like it to be delivered, Lite n’ Easy now offers many food options in flexible quantities through its program to try and fill the nutritional gaps among older people accessing care.
Weighing up the cost
Assessing the costs of food delivery in your organisation is a big part of being an aged care provider, particularly as Government funding models change and expect higher levels of transparency on money spent through your reporting obligations.
Lite n’ Easy’s National Business Development Manager for Home Care, Sarah Simeon, said “As the largest provider of home delivered meals to home care package customers nationally, we know how important access to nutritional and tasty meals is for our senior customers.”
“Funding flexibility under the current home care package model is key in allowing senior Australians access to nutritious meals as their circumstances quickly change.”
The success of Lite n’ Easy’s home delivered meals service to Home Care Package (HCP) recipients has caught the attention of residential aged care providers who are looking for alternative meal solutions.
Lite n’ Easy has recently experienced an influx of enquiries from residential aged care providers, proving the company is a strong contender within this market space.
“As aged care facilities consider the costs of produce, labour and administration, they are considering Lite n’ Easy meals as a solution to providing nutritious tasty meals to their clients,” Ms Simeon said.
To assist aged care providers with their meal solutions, Lite n’ Easy sells their meals in bulk to providers through their wholesale option.
Lite n’ Easy produces more than 1.5 million meals every week across six HACCP-certified kitchens nationwide, via a delivery network that covers more than 95% of the metro, regional and rural population.
With more than 150 call consultants to handle large volumes of enquiries, Lite n’ Easy can provide nourishing and tasty food to providers as soon as the day after ordering.
For more information about Lite n’ Easy and the services they provide, or to complete an aged care wholesale enquiry form, head to the Lite n’ Easy website or call 13 15 12.
