my daughter has moved into supported living after 28 years in residential,
Challenging behaviour and very little communication skills so does not know how to cook etc. The care team only provide processed food ie frozen meals etc or fast food . no home fresh cooked at all . I am concerned with the diet and lack of wholesome nutritious food. Is this the norm ?!!
Find better Care Home. my son eats home cooked meals by staff. We provide ingredients and sometimes we cook and give
I would suggest you go back to who funds the service and ask them the question.. assuming theres a contract between the funder/provider I imagine there’s detail in there around the quality of food provided./ agreed catering arrangements..
at home we have to rely on ready meals and have found food delivery firms like Wiltshire farm foods provided unprocessed meals..
Sadly yes. My son is supposed to get support cooking. Very few of the support staff can cook or be bothered. Heating up a microwave meal is ok by them.Batch cooking is in his care plan. No one can do it or the only person who offered said fish curry and the staff member does this at home with special ingredients that my son has no access too.
Unsurprisingly my son said no thanks.
Ready meals are expensive too. Yes speak to the manager and check the contract. Try providing some simple recipes and a meal planner. He could have set meals over a 2 week rota so that staff get to know how to cook them.
No this shouldn't be the norm. There should be a care plan in place which includes diet and nutrition, which you should be able to input into.This was a concern of mine when my daughter who has PMLD and requires 24/7 support for all her needs when she moved in from home in 2022.
As we bring her home most weeks we send her back with all the shopping she needs for Sunday to Thursday. An online shop is also another option.
I also send in a portion of Sunday Roast for her to have for Sunday tea.
I also send in fruit & veg along with her shopping. Because Initially I wasn't happy with her being taken to Macdonalds at lunch time I got put in the care plan that if she was to eat out she should have a pub meal like spaghetti bolognese or Carvery etc. If she goes on a day outing, we suggest making her a pack up.
This on the whole works well. The biggest game changer though was offering to do a weekly menu for what she should have based on food brought in that week. We leave the menu for that week with the staff, when we bring her back. The menu are suggestions. They can choose to cook something different using the food items.
The freezer could be used for storing fresh chicken mini fillets and small portions of meat frozen veg. I ask not to buy frozen chips.
Buy her a slow cooker as a stew is easy for them to prepare and batch cooked . The remainder can be put in the freezer. She also got an air fryer for Christmas, and am going to buy a blender next so they can make soup for her.
It can be hard work but this was an area myself and husband wanted to focus upon, and on whole we have a good relationship with the home. They appreciate the extra help as my daughter being non verbal can't make a choice.
Stand your ground
This depends on what time she is allocated andvhowvthe scheme works. If it's a 24 /7 service there is no reason why staff shouldn't cook with the person they support, could be staff lack the skills. I you Wiltshire Farm foods for my mum, nutritionally balanced and better quality and choice than supermarkets.
Hi, I'd speak to the manager of the care team. Sadly this seems to be common but can and should be challenged. The care team should be able to cook basic decent meals..its not ok to just provide fast food or microwave meals. I did my son a meal plan for the carers to follow with all the meal he liked on it and choices for him to pick from each day, this also helps with his food shopping so he's not wasting food or buying junk.
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