S&R LTC homes putting iPads on snack carts to enhance resident safety

iPads include apps that provide staff instant access to most recent information about residents’ dietary needs
3/31/2017  - Deron Hamel
Westmount Gardens PSW Eva Villena is seen here using the MenuScreen program.  

Snack carts in Steeves & Rozema’s seven long-term care homes will soon be equipped with iPads with a state-of-the-art app to ensure that timely, accurate information about residents’ food and fluid intake requirements is just a click away during snack delivery.

Westmount Gardens in London, Ont. is the first Steeves & Rozema long-term care home to adopt the program. The program will be implemented in Steeves & Rozema’s six other long-term care homes in the coming weeks. This is the latest effort to enhance dietary safety for residents at Steeves & Rozema long term care homes.

The MenuStream app provides staff members with immediate access to each resident’s dietary information, such as diet texture, food consistency and food allergies, as well as what types of snacks each resident can safely eat.

Any changes to a specific resident’s dietary needs will be uploaded into MenuStream by food services managers, and staff working the carts can immediately see if any changes to a person’s food or drink texture requirements have been made.

The iPads, which also include the Point of Care app, will help expedite documentation related to residents’ food and fluid intake. As staff members are giving snacks to residents, they can view the snack delivery worksheet and document each person’s food and fluid intake. All they have to do is toggle between the MenuStream and Point of Care apps.

Steeves & Rozema’s long-term care homes also have computer kiosks with the MenuStream food service software available in the serveries so food service workers can quickly access residents’ diet information to look for allergies, portion sizes and dislikes in a timely manner. 

Menu kiosks have also been installed outside of each dining room for residents and their families to be able to see menu offerings for each month, no matter the diet type and texture they are on. Residents can also look at the nutritional analysis of a menu item to learn about the ingredients used in recipes.

Long-term care residents’ dietary needs and requirements can change quickly, so it’s essential for staff members to have the most recent dietary information available in an easy-to-access manner, says Cherie Furlan-Craievich, corporate dietitian for Steeves & Rozema’s long-term care division.

“It’s efficiency and accuracy (to ensure) resident safety,” she says of the apps.

The initiative is garnering positive feedback from staff members at Westmount Gardens. Personal support worker Eva Villena says having an iPad loaded with the MenuStream and Point of Care apps on the home’s snack cart has made it easier to ensure residents are getting snacks that match their dietary needs.

“The iPad is really easy to use to access the snack delivery worksheets,” she says. “You can see all the diets and textures and then chart in PoC (Point of Care) immediately.”

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