In the new age of senior living communities, bland and basic meals are a thing of the past. Nowadays, senior living communities focus on cultivating a unique senior living dining experience that replicates restaurant service. Residents can expect an array of dining options, flexible meal plans, and personalized menus. As you tour communities, consider these senior living dining factors and be prepared with questions to help you find a dining program that best suits you or a loved one.
Diverse Senior Living Dining Options
To help ensure a variety in environment and flavors, communities often provide flexible senior living dining services. This means residents have several areas to enjoy various types of food.
Restaurant-Style Dining Rooms
Many senior living communities offer an elegant dining room that replicates a fine dining experience in a restaurant. This senior living dining option enables residents to choose their meals and receive full table service from waitstaff.
In most senior living dining rooms, residents can expect meals made with fresh ingredients, themed meals for special occasions, and seasonal meal options to prevent meal fatigue.
Our Sunrise communities offer restaurant-style dining with a dedicated service team to take orders and serve nutritious meals for seniors. Orders are placed on tablets and sent to the culinary team in real-time, so the service team can spend more time with residents in the dining room.
Social Eating Benefits
A restaurant-style senior living dining experience enables seniors to enjoy their meals alongside fellow residents. Many communities even encourage residents’ family members and friends to join them for mealtime as well—often charging a flat fee for guest meals.
Eating with others is proven to help individuals feel happier and more satisfied with their lives, according to social eating research. Social eating increases bonding, feelings of well-being, one’s sense of contentedness and belonging in their community.
Casual Dining Spaces
Many communities offer a casual dining venue for residents who want to grab a quick bite. Residents are welcome to stroll down to on-site bistros or cafes, which serve lighter meals, drinks, and snacks. Residents can even ask for their food to-go so they can enjoy it in their apartment, on the go, or in a shared space.
Sunrise communities offer on-site bistros for residents to enjoy snacks, fruit, coffee, tea, cookies, and freshly popped popcorn. Residents can drop by throughout the day or attend afternoon socials and happy hours hosted in the bistro.
Private Dining Areas
To help residents celebrate special occasions or enjoy larger gatherings with family and friends, many communities offer private dining rooms that can be reserved. Oftentimes, families can set up catering or bring in their own meals. Some communities may also offer options to help set up meals for private events.
Whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, holiday celebration, or just a casual gathering, many senior living communities do their best to help families continue their traditions and make new memories by offering private spaces. Many of our Sunrise communities offer private dining rooms for this exact reason.
Room Service
Should a resident ever feel like they don’t want to leave the comfort of their senior living apartment, some communities offer room service.
While socialization in dining areas is encouraged, some days a senior may be feeling under the weather, want some alone time, or have a visitor. That’s when room service comes in handy. Many communities offer a menu for residents who want to order in and have their food brought to them.
How Senior Living Meal Plans Are Made Flexible
Senior living meal plans vary from community to community. Some communities may offer multiple meal plan options while luxury communities may have set plans. Some common meal plans may include:
- All-inclusive: Three meals per day, with snacks
- Flexible credit: A set amount of credits for meals that rolls over each month
- Declining balance: A set amount of money which is gradually deducted as meals are purchased
- À la carte: Only pay for what you order and whenever you want
Sunrise communities offer a signature dining program that’s included in a resident’s monthly cost. This all-inclusive program offers residents multiple, chef-prepared meals and snacks throughout the day. To keep meals unique and exciting, residents can select each item from several options made using fresh, seasonal ingredients.
How Assisted Living Menus Support Balanced Nutrition
While menus vary across communities, assisted living menus offer varied choice and balanced nutrition, similar to the culinary selections offered in independent living environments.
Senior living menus are crafted with an emphasis on choice, variety, resident satisfaction, and the role of nutrition in senior health. Many communities use guidance on older adults’ nutrition needs from reputable organizations, like the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to create nutritious meals for seniors.
Here’s an example of what a typical assisted living food menu may look like in a day:
- Breakfast: Vegetable omelet, fresh fruit, orange juice, and coffee
- Lunch: Tomato basil soup, turkey and cheddar sandwich, and iced tea
- Dinner: Garden salad, roasted chicken with potatoes and green bean almondine, whole grain roll, and apple crisp with vanilla ice cream
Here’s what a sample menu looks like at Sunrise to help you get a better idea of what to expect. You can also explore our meal planner to view a variety of daily menus.
How Dietary Needs and Preferences Are Accommodated
Many quality senior living communities make residents’ health and well-being their top priority by providing meals that accommodate their nutritional needs, dietary restrictions, and personal preferences.
Oftentimes, communities appoint a culinary director or have a dietitian inform meals to help ensure that residents meet their nutritional goals. In partnership with the culinary team, they can help customize meals for residents with varying health conditions and preferences, such as low-sodium and diabetic diets.
How Sunrise Caters to Residents’ Dietary Needs
Our communities offer an individualized dining experience with innovative Tableside Dining technology, which allows team members to see each resident’s personalized dietary needs. This includes preferences, allergies, and more. With this technology, when an order is placed, the chef knows to tailor a resident’s dish to their unique specifications.
At Sunrise, seniors can expect the following modifications for a more enjoyable mealtime:
- Adjustments for doctor-prescribed diabetic diet plans
- Texture-modified meals for residents living with dysphagia (thickened liquids, mechanical soft, and pureed foods)
- Fortified diets for seniors experiencing unintended weight loss
- No added salt diets for residents managing blood pressure
- Adaptive dining equipment and easy-to-eat foods for residents living with memory loss, severe arthritis, or Parkinson’s disease
- Unique dinnerware to stimulate appetite and promote independence in our memory care neighborhoods
10 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Senior Living Dining Programs
Dining is one of the most important parts of a senior’s daily life. To help you or a senior loved one find a senior living dining program that works for you, ask the following questions when touring a community:
- Are there set times for meals or flexible options?
- What special dietary accommodations are provided?
- How often are menus changed?
- What type of dining plans are available?
- Does a dietitian inform each resident’s diet?
- Are there special meals for holidays and special occasions?
- Can guests dine with residents?
- Are there private dining options?
- Is room service an option?
- How do you collect and incorporate resident feedback on meals?
Senior living communities can accommodate various tastes and dining preferences these days—you just need to know what to ask.
At Sunrise, we strive to meet residents’ needs with individualized service plans and meals. If you have any questions on senior living dining or our communities in general, find a Sunrise near you.
Our team members are ready to answer your questions and help you feel confident as you choose a new home for yourself or a loved one.
This blog was expertly reviewed by Caitlin Rogers, Vice President of Dining & Programming Services at Sunrise Senior Living, to help ensure accuracy and relevance.
Resources
[1] University of Oxford. (2017, March 11). Social eating connects communities.