HC-One Care Homes Celebrate Nutrition and Hydration Week
HC-One care homes across the UK celebrated the annual Nutrition and Hydration week from the 14th to 20th March which aims to highlight and promote the provision of nutrition and hydration as key components in staying healthy.
Care Homes participated with a week of events. A variety of new and exciting fruits and drinks were on offer for Residents to graze on throughout the week, including using the delicious juicy fruits to create appetising smoothies with which went down a treat with the Residents. Residents thoroughly enjoyed tasting all of the different fruit smoothies and discussed the health benefits of staying hydrated and having a balanced nutritional diet.
At Kings Park Care Home, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside which offers residential and nursing dementia care, to mark Nutrition and Hydration Week, the team at the home created an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ themed tea party.
Colleagues dressed up as characters from the wonderland classic and the home was especially decorated for the occasion with Residents getting involved in creating some of the handmade decorations. Playing cards, roses, balloons and other Alice in Wonderland themed accessories were placed around the home to celebrate the occasion.
Colleagues and Residents followed the white rabbit into the home’s very own ‘Wonderland’ where they all enjoyed a Mad Hatters Tea Party with a menu fit for Kings and Queens.
The Residents enjoyed taking part in the range of activities on offer, including making toadstools, teacups, aprons and decorating the home. Some Residents enjoyed having their photograph taken in the wonderland themed frame showcasing their best Cheshire Cat grins. Residents enjoyed the variety of food and drinks on offer and discussing the nutritional benefits including an Alice in Wonderland mock turtle soup, delicious caterpillar styled sandwiches and meringues, Queen of Hearts biscuits, a Cheshire cheese cat flan and ‘drink me’ smoothies.
Lisa Joy, Home Manager at Kings Park Care Home commented:
“Fabulous day had by all. Our home looked just like wonderland!”
At Averill House Care Home in Newton Heath, Manchester, which offers dementia care, Residents and Colleagues took part in Nutrition and Hydration Week.
Residents and Jodie Yates, the Wellbeing Coordinator at Averill House Care Home, decided to create an enchanted forest take on the famous Alice in Wonderland story to mark the week. Together they made all the decorations for the home’s tea trolley with papier-mâché and then did some drip art and decoupage. The team also used photography and floristry as different mediums to make the artwork eye catching and stand out. Residents thoroughly enjoyed making the artwork, and experimenting with the different techniques used.
Donna Spencer, Head Chef, and the kitchen team also put their heads together to create a Mad Hatter themed taste sensation, meeting all 7 levels of the IDDSI framework, from mud pie and lime cupcakes with a dash of parsley to a small and bite-sized fruit medley with lemon zest. Also on offer was a mint chocolate chip and banana smoothie with a pureed mint mud, mushroom fondant and shortbread fancies. There was also a plant pot textured cake dished up in true Mad Hatter style in garden plant pots, as well as a mocktail spritz of appletini.
Jodie Yates, Wellbeing Coordinator at Averill House Care Home commented:
“This was a true Mad Hatter original creation! From decorations to food and outfits and we did it all from scratch with a lot of added madness and a dash of crazy!”
A hydration station was also set up by Averill House’s very own life-size banana.
Wellbeing Coordinator at Averill House, Jodie Yates, wanted to go all out to promote good nutrition and hydration and organised a ‘Fruitation Hydration Station’ which was a mobile trolley used to visit all Residents and promoting healthy eating, good nutrition and lots of fluids to keep hydrated.
On the station, they had homemade sparkling water with orange and lemon, fruit medley platters with strawberries and melon, natural yogurt and homemade fruit smoothies.
Mina Shaw, a Resident at Averill House Care Home said:
“This is great and the drinks are fab!”
At Winsford in Cheshire, Overdene House Care Home, which offers residential and nursing care, the home decided to go back in time and have a 1940s themed day and trolley as part of their Nutrition and Hydration Week.
Decorations were put up over both floors at the home and they started the day off with singer, Sharon Holdstock who went down a treat with Residents and staff alike.
On the day, the home’s afternoon tea trolley consisted of drinks and cakes suitable for all textured diets and was wheeled around the home by Wellbeing Coordinators, Rebecca and Nic and Home Manager, Cath who were dressed up in Land Army costumes.
Residents particularly enjoyed singing along to Sharon’s songs from the 40s and 50s.
The wellbeing team at Overdene House Care Home commented:
“It was a lovely day which bought back some fond memories for our Residents, especially when we sang songs from the 40s.”