New snack shop brings sound nutrition to care home's dementia residents

A community dietician working at Longridge Hall care home, an Orchard Care Homes accommodation in Preston, has praised the implementation of a new ‘snack shop’ initiative that has so far seemed to answer all of the residents’ nutritional needs.

Visiting dietician Helen said of the steps taken to achieve round-the-clock sustenance: “I haven’t seen any other home doing what Orchard is doing. I now have no worries about the diet and weight of these residents. It has reduced my workload here to virtually nil.”

Carers have been assessing the weight gain of each resident since making the snack shop available, with results showing an ongoing weight gain, thanks to high calorie snack bars and hot soup each afternoon.

As many of the residents have mental health related needs, signs of weight gain are encouraging considering that conditions like dementia often give rise to diet related issues.

Manager Melissa Kershaw explains, “Often with dementia what happens is that at set mealtimes residents may not eat as much as they should. This is nothing to do with the food we serve but everything to do with the mood of the resident, perhaps they are feeling anxious or confused, or maybe they are distracted and agitated and keep leaving the table and pacing about. Sometimes those with dementia lose their ability to recognise hunger or lose their sense of taste.”

The 60-capacity home, that also welcomes adults with visual and hearing impairments, has been able to install the snack shop thanks to relatives’ fundraising efforts, hard work from the home’s handyman and contributions from the residents’ own arts and crafts sessions.