Senior patients in hospitals need food delivery solutions that are nutritionally designed to aid them in proper recovery and promote healthy bodily function. While the standard hospital menu can satiate hunger, improving the patient experience can start with elevated taste and nutritional benefits.
Key Elements of a Nutritious Senior Meal Program
Delicious Taste
Healthy food is even better when the person loves what they’re eating. We partner with gourmet chefs at our facility to create our ever-evolving menus.
Nutritional Bioavailability
We freeze and deliver meals made with whole ingredients to medical organizations throughout the United States. Each dietician-approved ingredient maintains peak nutritional bioavailability and maintains its freshness and taste throughout the delivery cycle.
Senior-Focused
A senior meal delivery plan should offer food that actually meets the nutritional requirements of this population. According to the National Council on Aging, a healthy senior diet should include:
- Low sodium
- Lean sources of protein
- Plenty of fruits and vegetables
- Whole grains
- Low-fat dairy
At our facility, we also prioritize carbohydrate control. This is especially important for seniors living with diabetes, which make up approximately 27% of the entire senior population over 65 in the United States.
No Difficult Preparation
For many seniors that experience difficulty with mobility, extensive meal preparation can become stressful and difficult. This may motivate these individuals to opt for less-healthy foods out of convenience.
Instead, a great senior nutrition program should require little-to-no preparation for a person to enjoy their meal. For example, our meals only require heating in the microwave.
Covered by Insurance
To ensure a seamless and friction-free experience for medical providers and their patients, a senior meal delivery service should also accept insurance coverage. At DeliverLean Care, our meals are all covered by insurance to ensure that care providers can help their senior patients continue a healthier diet without needing to shop for ingredients, cook, or pay for the meal out of pocket.
Provide Hospital Meals that Meet Seniors’ Dietary Needs
As people age, their eating habits also change. Research suggests that seniors often eat less protein and more meals with lower nutritional quality, compared to younger populations. Not only will this impact healthy bodily function, but it can also impact hospital recovery efficacy and energy levels.
Hospitals that partner with a senior-focused food delivery service can help their aging patients in their recovery by providing and prescribing meal solutions that are designed specifically to provide maximum nutrition to senior bodies. These meals can be delivered to both facilities and residences, offer fresh ingredients and flavors, and require no preparation beyond heating in a microwave.
Lifestyle-Sensitive Food Delivery
Humans are diverse, and that is no less true for our seniors. Each person belongs to a different culture and holds different beliefs, values, and lifestyle preferences. Shouldn’t your hospital’s food also meet these needs?
At DeliverLean Care, we strive to provide meals to senior patients that both taste great and are lifestyle-sensitive. For example, if your patient maintains a kosher or vegetarian diet, this may be difficult to accommodate with a standard hospital catering plan. With our customizable plans, a provider can order fast, fresh meals that are crafted to meet the patient’s exact dietary and nutritional needs.
For patients that may experience dysphagia or another condition that prevents them from swallowing solid food, you can also order from one of our various pureed meal plans. These meals still provide the same delicious taste and nutritional value but can be swallowed with ease.
Continuing Post-Discharge Nutrition
When a senior patient leaves a care facility and returns home, it becomes more difficult to monitor their diet. As a medical provider, you hope that your patient follows your advice, but with the effort and preparation required to produce many healthy meals, it can be difficult for that person to eat healthily on a consistent basis.
This is where a senior meal delivery service can provide immense benefit. For instance, when you discharge your patient back to their home, you can still continue ordering insurance-covered senior meal delivery to their residence. These meals are already prepared fresh with whole ingredients and require only a microwave to warm them up.
Get Healthier Food Delivered to Senior Patients at Your Hospital
Healthier hospital food for seniors makes a clear difference in both their in-patient and post-discharge recovery processes. That is why we invest the time into creating gourmet-quality, dietician-approved meals for aging individuals that meet their nutritional needs, taste great, and are easy to prepare.
If you are interested in a food delivery plan for your hospital, please browse our plan options and reach out if you would like more information.
Note: DeliverLean Care is covered by most insurance providers, including Avmed Humana and Care Plus. If you would like more information regarding this, please contact your insurance provider or reach out to us for more information.