AnglicareSA’s Elizabeth East Residential Aged Care home is serving up a refreshed menu thanks to a training program created by well-known Australian cook Maggie Beer to provide a better dining experience for our residents.

AnglicareSA was one of 135 residential aged care homes across the country that were selected for the Maggie Beer Foundation’s Trainer Mentor pilot program.

As part of the program, Maggie Beer Foundation Chef Trainer Cam Neal has been mentoring the hospitality team at Elizabeth East for 12 months to serve delicious, nutritious food and improve the dining experience for residents.

The mentorship started with a five-day intensive, where Cam visited the home to work with the AnglicareSA team to develop a tailored action plan with clear goals to guide the training, build on the home’s strengths, address areas for improvement, and create a more enjoyable dining experience for residents.

“We worked with the whole home – the hospitality team, lifestyle team, the clinical team, management – and created a plan to see where we can make change and what would be most effective in the home,” Cam said.

The learning topics chosen in AnglicareSA’s program included maximising flavour, delivering higher protein, food presentation, and improving the dining experience.

AnglicareSA also has access to exclusive Maggie Beer recipes, which have been on rotation in the newest menus at Elizabeth East with positive feedback from residents.

 

 

The program also included additional information on how aged care providers could meet the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standard for food and nutrition, which came into effect in November last year.

Elizabeth East Head Chef, Matt De Cean, completed ongoing coursework related to these learning topics between monthly check-ins with Cam.

He said the hands-on training and mentoring were about providing more than just menu changes.

“The training is very interactive, and we’ve had some really good feedback from residents about the food and the dining experience,” Matt said.

“There will always be changes to make to the menu – that is why we have a dynamic menu that can change as we get new residents, who have different tastes.

“However, we’ve made changes to the dining experience, such as what’s on offer, the tablecloths, and the menu books, as a result of hearing from residents and what they want to see.”

Cam said working with the team at Elizabeth East for the past year had been amazing.

“It has been a privilege to work with the team,” Cam said.

“Matt is a proficient chef who is supportive of his team and is helping them build on their culinary skills.”

The information and knowledge gained by employees at Elizabeth East will be shared across AnglicareSA’s other five aged care homes.