St. Joe’s meal program serves up recipe for healthy eating
Patient Food Services is thrilled to report healthier eating habits at St. Joe’s thanks to Your Choice Your Voice – a meal program designed for patients in partnership with patients.
Helen Van deMark, Director of Patient Food Services and Clinical Nutrition, says patient food and fluid intake has increased significantly since the program started in 2019, including a 50 per cent jump in protein at breakfast.
Since then, the program has been expanded to lunch and dinner with similar improvements in fluid and protein intake. For example, in surgical units, the number of patients drinking 100 per cent of their fluids has jumped from 20 to 55 per cent. Protein intake has also improved at all meals.
“Protein helps improve muscle strength and wound healing,” Van deMark says. “This makes a big impact on recovery as research shows well-nourished patients stay in hospital for fewer days, and are less likely to be readmitted to hospital.”
A recipe for success
So, what’s the recipe behind the program’s success?
- More choice – A cart of menu options, rather than standard meal trays, appeals to varying appetites and preferences.
- Greater accessibility – Food and beverages served in packaging that is difficult to open are avoided as much as possible. This helps our frail and elderly patients eat and drink better with greater ease.
- An enhanced meal experience – Menu items are served in ceramic dishware providing a home-like feel while curbing our environmental footprint. On average, we now dispose of more than 78,000 fewer plastic bowls, cups and lids every year.
Less packaging and food waste have also provided the team with resources to add nutrient-rich ingredients to breakfast, including more fresh fruit and eggs, and the option of a sugar-free fruit smoothie as a mid-afternoon snack.
“By listening to what patients want, we have less waste and patients are eating better,” Van deMark adds.
Made with patient and family involvement
Through interviews and surveys, the team launched Your Choice Your Voice with patient and family input.
“We asked them, ‘if there were things we could do differently, what would they be?’” Van deMark says. “A lot of the suggestions revolved around giving patients options to adjust their meals based on how they feel at the time.”
Judith Hitcher, a patient on St. Joe’s Complex Care unit, agrees.
“I think the meal choice program is better because I can adjust portions based on how I feel and my appetite,” she says. “I can customize my meals and choose the sides I want, such as extra salad. This helps me manage my diabetes better while in hospital. The food staff are great because they remember me and what I like.”
Your Choice Your Voice started as a solution to improve coffee service. Before, pre-poured coffee was delivered to patients en masse in plastic mugs with lids and much of it was not consumed.
“Some patients would say, ‘I don’t really like coffee, I like tea,’” Van deMark says. “Others would say ‘the coffee isn’t hot enough,’ or struggled to get the lid off at all.”
Today, patients are greeted by a Patient Food Services team member and offered their preferred beverage in a mug, just like at home.
They also have a choice of breakfast, lunch and dinner items, such as oatmeal and a variety of muffins, along with “always-available” items such as chicken noodle and tomato soup, and turkey sandwiches.
The next phase of Your Choice Your Voice is to expand the program to more patients at the Charlton Campus.
“We are working with our Patient and Family Advisors to develop a call-in option where patients or their families can dial a dedicated line to order their meals,” Van deMark adds. “We want to provide our patients with as many healthy options as possible so we can improve their meal experience while in hospital, and support their recovery."