Connection, Collaboration & Community Suzanne Quiring, RD
Winnipeg, MB
June 18, 2025
Four Questions (Part 1)
1.Event Success
What special food service events have you done in the past year that were a BIG hit? Tell us.
2. Maximizing Choices
How do you maximize and provide daily meal & beverage choices at your healthcare community? Explain.
3. Timely Feedback
What effective ways do you obtain timely feedback on meal satisfaction from staff/ residents/pt/family (outside of resident council mtg?)
4. Best Practices
How does your team stay up to date with Best Practices? What resources do you lean into the most? List
1.Event Success
1. Summer BBQ
2. Diners club (friday special lunch )
3. Men's lunch
4. Mocktail hour
5. Cooking with nancy (interactive food demo )
6. Homemade donuts
7. Hot chocolate and cookies while decorating tree
8. Cookie decorating
9. Resident choice
10. Christmas dinner
11. Weekly barbeque – what can be barbecued is
12. Family barbeque
13. Thanksgiving and easter dinner bi-annually
14. Concert nights
15. Ice cream cart / snack cart
16. Banana split day for mother's day
17. Susie Q cart with tableside service offer choice – pre-order their choice from a white board – beverage trolley - don't pre pour beverages such as juice coffee milk
18. Talk to residents and family during meal service
19. Menu review process - first round of new menu all sites document feedback and submit review forms back to menu development dietitian
20. Huddles, lead meetings, seminars and conferences like this from suppliers, clinical dietitian at site
21. Themed meals and BBQ with choice
22. High tea – invited families and used china ware
23. Father's day BBQ
24. Formal dinners and buffets - christmas banquet
25. Chefs club every month
26. Filipino food event
27. Mother's day luncheon had 33 guests
28. Easter sunday meal with residents and families
29. Recent memorial service
30. Father's day walleye fish fry- families are invited
31. Canada day party
1.Event Success (cont’d)
32. Daffodil tea
33. Carnival day
34. Barbeque roadshow
35. Chuck wagon breakfast
36. Farmers market
37. Family barbeque
38. Ice cream social
39. Mix and mingles
40. Resident sampling for new menu
41. Birthday parties
42. Baking class
43. 24-hour buffet that changes every day
44. Minimum of two choices per meal
45. Rotational menus
46. Multiple snack options
47. Always have a backup plan if they don't want the choices
48. Resident choices incorporated into menu
49. Resident can submit menu ideas
50. Cinco de Mayo - thickened fluids - alcohol
51. Outside events
52. Games outside
53. Barbeque – ice cream trucks - room to room
54. Festival de Voyageur – menu to go along with the week
55. Family days – invite family to events and meals
56. Staff appreciation barbecues
57. Pizza party
58. Picnic with the residents
59. Father’s Day fish fry
60. Mother’s Day tea
61. Beach Day
62. Tim Horton’s drive through
63. Soup in a jar fundraiser
64. Hawaiian theme meals
65. Men's and women's breakfast
1.Event Success (cont’d)
66. Staff lunch
67. Resident choice meals
68. Silo mission – food fight – 10 plates – most donated items – votes – media
69. Spring and Fall feast with drummers & smudging
70. Ice cream truck monthly which is a huge hit
71. Chip trucks and food trucks
2. Maximizing Choices
1. Susie Q carts
2. Bulk service with Burlodge
3. Preference questionnaires
4. Nourishment carts
5. Refreshment break
6. Resident council / feedback
7. 2 mains and swap sides
8. Multi egg choices
9. Multi sandwich choices
10. Snack cart with multiple choices
11. Hydration cart with milk juices water coffee and tea, Susie Q cart or steam table going around with two choices
12. Offer choice at each meal
13. Staff offering different
14. Beverages at each meal and at snack time
15. Three meals per day - ala carte , barbecue on site that can do whatever
16. Two meals per day - alternate fish or chicken - dietary issues such as chopped – guests are welcome at all meals - family dining room available
17. Tray system , so no choice in the moment , but implemented choice of juice to start
18. Three-week menu rotates , able to request meals if on hand , it's available to the client
19. Meal choices - different starch options - different protein options - dislike book – menu catering
20. Different juice choices – daily – meals
21. Snack cart that goes room to room
22. Dessert options
23. Relaxed breakfast – choices - with a menu but can choose options
24. Menu and cafeteria menu to choose from
25. Intake questions for meal sizes likes and dislikes
26. Resident input
27. Two meal options with two protein and two+ starches
2. Maximizing Choices
28. Multiple choice offer at table
29. List of available foods
30. Preference lists / record keeping
31. Taste testing food committee
32. Meal audits and quality control
33. DA – milk and water - PSW tea, coffee, juice, V8, chocolate milk
34. Show plate of choice
35. Consider preference
36. Choice of snacks – milkshakes
37. Selective menu
3. Timely Feedback
1. Accepting complaints and compliments from residents
2. Dietary aids tracking favorite meals
3. Chefs and managers in dining room at meals
4. Meeting with clinical staff
5. Food for thought
6. Checking on residents during meals
7. Comment cards
8. Notes from residents that they enjoy the meal
9. Asking residents if they enjoyed the meal
10. Feedback forms that they fill out send out twice per month
11. Table touches
12. The family reaches out and response is given within 24 hours
13. Allergies and dietary needs are addressed by the chef with client
14. Check in at the time of meal service
15. Food taste audits
16. Eat with residents
17. Survey (monthly with family or residents or partners )
18. Overhearing from residence
19. Menu reviews with staff and cooks – what is seen thrown away
20. Feedback surveys
21. Talk to your biggest critics – see whether they love or hate
22. A meal waste pail – see what is wasted
23. Portion viewing – consider age and smaller portions
24. Gave residents office phone number to call
25. Meet with dietitian
26. Suggestion box
27. Family conference
28. Compliment / complaint forms with 24 hour follow up
29. Direct feedback
30. Designated phone line at RDF
31. Feedback on meal tickets
32. Open kitchen – can get feedback right then
3. Timely Feedback
33. Non verbal residents – check leftovers “informal waste audit “
38. Clean plate ☺
39. Point of service feedback – opportunity to offer different menu choice
40. Satisfaction audit
41. Discharge feedback / interview
42. Questionnaires for residents / families
4. Best Practices
1. PCH huddles
2. ICP and sanitation daily huddles
3. Reaching out to community 4. Choice 5. Standard reviews
6. Pre and post shift during meals
7. Comment cards
8. Giving feedback
9. Follow Ministry standards from administration and our education departments
10. Attend conferences to learn about best practices
11. Communication
12. Training up to date
13. Health inspections / inspector's help
14. Collaboration with other communities or homes
15. Site visits at other homes
16. Canada Food Guide
17. Regional resources
18. Synergy
19. Feedback on long term care standards
20. Dietitian help with menu changes
21. Leadership conferences
22. Daily and weekly team huddles
23. Monthly staff meetings
24. Quarterly food services group online meeting
25. Daily pre shift meeting for servers
26. Quarterly health and safety online education
27. Implementing feedback from standards
28. Working groups
29. Regional meetings
30. Networking
31. Continuous improvement
32. Policy education
33. Dining teams
39. Staff Net (staff resource site )
40. Gerontology best practice guidelines
Four Questions (Part 2)
5. Positive Changes
What positive changes have you made in the quality of food service in the past year?
6. Resident Participation
How do you bring “resident participation” into your meal service? (inside & outside of mealtimes)
8. Actual Birthday
How do you bring dignity to texture modified diets (not the “3 scoop special”) within your serving time restraints?
How do you celebrate a resident/pt’s birthday on their actual day? Tell us exactly what you do.
7. Puree Meals
5. Positive Changes
1. Point of service evaluation
2. Removal of disliked foods
3. Implementing resident ideas
4. Adjust the seasons
5. Susie Q and beverage choices
6. Relationship centred dining
7. Going to each table and getting immediate feedback
8. New items on menu – cycle menu changes quarterly
9. Beverage cart
10. Coffee or tea station
11. Resident choice meals
12. Portable steam carts with no trays
13. Rotating table service
14. Everything is homemade
15. Scratch baking
16. Fresh ingredients
17. Plating and presentation
18. More breakfast options
19. Find out what food works
20. Bringing teams together
21. Expanding week service
22. More fresh options with salads and fruit
23. Offer fruit at nursing stations
24. Increase wages – hire cooks
25. Relaxed breakfast with no set time (8-9:30) – carts with options and quick to prepare items
26. Food tasting before each meal on new menu items
27. Garden boxes with fresh vegetables
28. Outdoor gardens where residents can participate
6. Resident Participation
1. Resident council meeting
2. Food for thought meeting
3. Residents activity to pick top three out of our top 10 menu items
4. Cookie or cupcake decorating by residents
5. Voted by resident options
6. Cafe options
7. Survey favourites
8. Menu reviews
9. Vendor trade shows
10. Pizza making
11. Breakfast club
12. Suggestion box
13. Resident council
14. Resident choice meals
15. Cooking with residents or in front of residents
16. Baking with residents
17. Form service for listed items
18. Food sharing assisted with produce garden – items are picked and prepared in meals
19. On holidays cooks gather feedback about what residents want
20. Resident food trials
21. Residents make the desert
22. Kitchen tour
23. Residents can help with prep
24. Gardens where residents can pick and wash
25. Barbeque
26. Apple tree – residents pick the apples and pies are made then used for desserts
35. Residents plant garden
36. Cooking events
37. Residents help other residents with coffee
38. Residents cook on weekends
39. Published cookbooks
40. Surveys for food feedback
41. Baking club
Puree Meals
1. Colour variation
2. Taste food – more seasoning
3. Keep options separated on the plate
4. Decorate plate
5. Educate staff on what each item is
6. In a soup bowl
7. Puree toast in the shape of toast
8. Piping bags
9. Layering puree sandwiches
10. Food molds
11. Keeping menu consistent with standard diet
12. Plate presentation incorporating colours and not mixing food together
13. Keep residents at the same table to have a shared mail
14. Cupcake and candle or pureed cake and candle
15. Use molds and piping bags
16. Puree birthday dessert
17. Not mixing the scoops
18. Follow the menu
19. Put the puree on a plate and not in the container
20. Attention to detail with plating
21. Make all menu items - we do not use Trepuree, we do it ourselves – we make the food and puree on site so that those on a pureed diet are eating the same food as others - separate food items – no blending
22. Fortified pudding
23. Use sundae cups for special events
Actual
1. Birthday cupcake with candle for the resident
2. Goodie bag
3. Birthday place mat
4. Floor cake and entire residence cake
5. Individual cupcakes
6. Sing happy birthday
7. Baker in the house makes cake and leadership signs card
8. Post in the newsletter and the whole building invited to celebrate
9. Larger celebration for 100th birthdays
10. Staff singing to resident in the dining room
11. Announce birthdays
12. Decorate table
13. Special meal
14. Birthday card
15. Tray ticket says happy birthday
16. Happy birthday sticker on cupcake or pudding
17. Personally acknowledge birthday
18. Let them pick the meal
19. Last Friday of the month celebrate all the birthdays throughout that month
20. Piano player plays happy birthday
21. Helium balloon at residents chair
22. Happy birthday poster on the residents room door
23. Sing happy birthday at lunch service
24. Make the resident feel special on their birthday
25. Cake for families who come in - if no family then it gets shared with residents
26. Residents play piano and sing
Available through Sysco! Contact your Sysco Account Representative today to learn more.