Barrington Lodge Aged Care Centre Launches Their New Dining Experience Project
Barrington Lodge Aged Care Centre (“Barrington Lodge”) in New Town, Tasmania, recently launched their Dining Experience Project. The project was crafted with the vision of replicating the home comforts that residents are used to, prior to moving into an aged care setting.
For Barrington Lodge’s Chef Manager, Richard, he has been working as a chef in the aged care sector for close to ten years and finds great reward in meeting the needs of residents. “I just like to see that residents are enjoying a homestyle meal and that they’re able to live a fulfilled life, just keeping everything as it would be at home as much as possible,” he says.
When discussing the rollout of the Dining Experience Project, Chef Richard notes that it first commenced with assessing the needs of residents. “The process begins with the Food Focus meetings and the Resident Meetings that we have; getting some ideas about what they’d like to see in the dining room and also around the service that they would like to get, and how they would like things to be run - so the initial consultation phase,” he says.
Richards explains that this project was particularly important in bringing families back into the Centre, following COVID-19 restrictions in aged care settings. “I think from a wellbeing perspective for the residents, and you know from a mental health perspective as well, having families be able to come in and enjoy what’s a normal part of most people’s lives; enjoying a meal with families is quite a big deal.” The feedback from the residents and families has been nothing short of amazing. “They absolutely love it; they couldn’t speak highly enough of it,” Richard states.
For Hospitality Service Manager, Lainie Lynch, she explains that this project has been a long-term vision for herself. “I’ve always wanted to see the dining experience and the food experience go hand-in-hand,” she says.
To commence the project, Lainie explains that the Centre started by setting up the ‘family table’ space and getting creative by utilising old and new items from home renovation and charity stores. The room itself has garnered positive feedback with Lainie noting, “the residents have commented along the way and a lot of positive feedback was shared in relation to the decorations,” she says.
Lainie also notes that the multi-generational appeal of the family room has not gone unnoticed. “The residents love the idea and some of the families really liked that we also had a children’s table and chairs with books and colouring-in items,” she goes on to say.
When reflecting on what she is most committed to when it comes to the project, Lainie notes it’s the residents first and foremost. “It all comes back to the residents," she says. “Making sure that we’re meeting their needs and their needs of having time with their family.”
