One of the things we pride ourselves on at Heaton House is our generous variety of home-cooked meals by our chef. As experts in elderly and dementia care, we understand the importance of home-cooked meals for our residents.

Our menu changes each week and always reflects the time of the year with seasonal produce being used in our recipes. Of course, we always endeavour to have our residents’ favourite dishes on the menu and talk with them to make sure we understand what they do and don’t like. To make sure that our menus reflect everyone’s tastes and dietary requirements.

The importance of fresh food and meal times

We always make sure that all of our meals are cooked in our kitchen using fresh ingredients. In fact, some of our residents like to grow herbs in the garden which our chef uses in our dishes – you can’t get fresher than that! 

Not only is fresh food delicious it’s also very nutritious and gives our residents everything they need to remain healthy. So making sure that all of our residents enjoy three meals a day is important.

Routine is important with Dementia as it allows the person to know what to expect and helps them remain as independent as possible. All residents are encouraged to enjoy three meals a day at set times so they become familiar with the structure of the day. Although, of course, meal times can work around residents’ commitments and if they wish to eat at a different time.

Maintaining a good relationship with food

While good food is enjoyed by most, not eating enough of it is a common problem among the elderly. So making sure that mealtimes are enjoyable is important. The open-plan dining room at Heaton House has wonderful views of the garden through the picture window making it a lovely and social space to spend time.

One of the things we love to do to ensure food remains a positive thing is ’Foods From Around The World’ days. These each have different themes that celebrate foods from different countries. Including a Foods From India Day, Foods From Italy Day and a Food From China Day.

It’s fair to say that we love our food here at Heaton House and like to make sure that all of our residents do too. To find out more about Heaton House or to arrange a visit, please call 01903 700251 and ask for Sally and Sue.