Designing for Aged Care

One of my fondest memories working in aged care in Australia was the talking about Christmas recipes with all the residents during this holiday season. For many of us who have slaved over the stovetop during the festive seasons, you know what I am talking about. To get that perfect Christmas fruitcake was a project months in the making. I usually worked the Christmas shifts and we would always get together and you could see all the ladies eyes lit up like the fairy lights on the Christmas tree as we chatted away about our favourite Christmas dishes, the delectable treats and without a doubt, everyone, literally all the ladies had some cooking tips and advice to share. Sometimes, even their families would join in the conversation and I had to pry myself out of the room haha. From Pavlovas, Dundee cakes, Christmas cakes, brandy butter to Medisterkaker. Everyone had something lovely to share. You can tell I love the Christmas season.

Anyway I found out that in the UK, Magna Vitae is working on a new health initiative to support people with dementia and their caregivers. Guess what? It’s all about food! In January 2016, they will be running a string of dementia friendly workshops known as ‘Feeding Memories’ for people with dementia and their caregivers in the UK.

This workshop certainly breathes innovation, food is such an important component in our daily lives. The workshop is a food reminiscence therapy programme, helping to ‘revive the senses’ through utilising food packaging from the past and it seems like there might be some cooking involved as well. It doesn’t stop there, the workshop has an inclusive and community aspect, sharing the importance of nutrition, diet and getting people socially engaged in their common love for food.

I’m really excited about the workshop and I hope that there will be more of these workshops to go around, especially in the Memory Cafes.

Anyway here’s wishing everyone Happy Holidays.

xoxo

Jo