Bring global lessons to the table

Seventy percent of Americans aged 65 and older will require some form of long-term care during their lifetime, according to SingleCare research. Foodservice providers in senior living and adult care communities have an opportunity to play a transformative role in making this transition a smooth one for residents and their families. Innovative models beyond U.S. borders can provide some inspiration. Here are a few examples of models giving residents autonomy, aligning their meals with preventive healthcare, and supporting their engagement to help them build social connections:
• In the Netherlands, the Hogeweyk dementia village reimagines care by replacing institutional settings with home-like environments that make household-style dining possible. Residents dine in small, communal kitchens and even help prepare meals, gaining some autonomy and routine in the process. They can shop in the community’s supermarket, where no real money is exchanged and the staff are trained to provide dementia care. In 2021, the U.K. opened a similar purpose-built dementia village called Richmond Villages Willaston.
• Japan’s integrated care system highlights food as preventive medicine. Nutritionists collaborate with care teams to design meals to prevent frailty, manage disease, and monitor appetite changes that could signal deeper health issues. The country’s focus on inclusion and social well-being helps too – and could be replicated elsewhere with community-style events like shared cooking or cultural food days.
• Denmark has an aging-in-place model that shows how flexible meal services can support independence. Municipal food delivery programs offer tailored nutrition to seniors at home. Stateside, this could mean expanding senior care facilities’ foodservice to support independent or homebound residents through delivery and remote meal planning.
Across these models, food plays a role beyond nutrition and sustenance. It’s central to emotional well-being, identity and health. In your facility, does foodservice play a back-of-house supporting role – or is it a central contributor to residents’ quality of life?