Longridge care home opens new snack shop (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Longridge care home opens new snack shop
10:58am Tuesday 23rd October 2012 in News
A NEW ‘snack shop’ at at Longridge care home is helping patients with mental health problems improve their diet.
Community dietician Helen Brennan, who visits the Longridge Hall and Lodge care home in Barnacre Road, has praised bosses who have taken steps to achieve round-the-clock sustenance.
She said: “I haven’t seen any other home doing what this 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 of residents since setting up the snack shop, with results showing an ongoing weight gain, thanks to high calorie snack bars and hot soup each afternoon.
Manager Melissa Kershaw said: “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 snack shop has been installed thanks to relatives’ fundraising, the home’s handyman and residents’ arts and crafts sessions.
