Stirring Up Change in Adult Homes

This video sums up the components of a project that seeks to enhance the quality of life of residents in NYC adult homes by improving the quality of food served and empowering residents with cooking classes to promote healthier food choices. We documented the process to understand and identify the factors which are most important to all parties involved: administration, foodservice staff and residents. Targeted areas for potential change include: 1) Improved resident choices and behaviors around food; 2) More harmony and sense of being on the same ‘team' among home administration; food service and residents; 3) Residents' palatal improvement to accept more fresh ingredients and wide variety of vegetables at meals and for independent snack choices; and 4) Improved resident wellbeing, mood, motivation due to enhanced nutrition and opportunity to engage in therapeutic gardening and healthful snack preparation . We demonstrate how administrators, food service and residents can work collaboratively to engage in some positive new directions in food, using multi-cultural recipes, festive themes, and gardening, etc.