Food, nutrition & dining: resources for older Australians

Food and dining are important in aged care, as they affect your health, wellbeing and quality of life.

The food and dining experience offered by your aged care provider should be safe, enjoyable, respectful and based on what you like.

We are here to support you with information and advice. If you would like to discuss your food, nutrition and dining experience in aged care, including raising a concern or complaint, you can contact us via our new Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline.

For information for aged care workers, visit the Food, Nutrition and Dining (workers) page.

For information for aged care providers, visit the Food, Nutrition and Dining (providers) page.

The Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline – 1800 844 044

People receiving aged care and their representatives can call us on our Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline with enquiries, questions, concerns and complaints about their food, nutrition and dining experience.

When you contact the Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline with questions, enquiries or concerns we will:

listen to you to understand your enquiry, question or concern
give you information relevant to your enquiry, question or concern
support you to know your rights and responsibilities
support you to raise a formal complaint with the Commission if you wish.

If you’re calling with a question or enquiry about food, nutrition or dining, staff answering calls to the hotline will work with the Commission’s new Food, Nutrition and Dining Advisory Support Unit’s dietitians and speech pathologists to provide you with relevant information.

If you’re calling about a concern or complaints matter, you will have access to the Commission’s existing complaints pathway. Our friendly Complaints Officers will also work closely with the Food, Nutrition and Dining Advisory Support Unit to assist you with your concern or complaint.

The Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline is available on 1800 844 044 Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm AEDT.

More information on accessing the hotline and what to expect when you contact us can be found in our fact sheet ‘About the Food, Nutrition and Dining Hotline – for older people receiving care fact sheet'

Resources

The Commission’s food, nutrition and dining resources aim to help you enjoy food and dining in aged care.

Your provider and their staff will have access to similar information.

Dining

Eating food that you enjoy is essential for your health and wellbeing.

The food and dining experience your aged care provider gives you should be:

safe
enjoyable
respectful
based on what you like.

Watch our video about what to expect from your food and dining experience in aged care.

Transcript for 'The dining experience for residents and their families'

What you can do

Set your food and dining preferences

Your care team can work with you to make your dining experience more enjoyable.

They will:

work with you to understand your likes and dislikes
check to see if your likes and dislikes have changed
provide dining options to support your likes and dislikes.

Download our Enjoying dining in aged care fact sheet to find out how to make your dining experience enjoyable.

You can also use our My food and dining preference form to help your care team easily understand your food and dining preferences.

Work with your care team

Your care team should help you make informed choices about your food and nutrition plan. You can work with them to plan your meals and dining experience. This includes:

giving feedback after a meal
contributing to a resident food committee
helping design the dining room setup
joining food tastings
helping to design the menu.

Choice

Your right to choose

You have the right to make choices about your life in residential aged care. This includes what you eat and drink. It also includes choosing to take informed risks if they help you to enjoy mealtimes.

You can choose*:

when and where to eat
who you eat with
what you eat and drink
how much you eat and drink
how you eat and drink
to make cultural and religious choices about food, drink and dining
whether you have assistance and support.

* Food choices must be within reason and reasonably practical for the provider to deliver.

Read our fact sheet and posters to learn more about:

Swallowing

If you have swallowing difficulties, your care team can work with you to change the texture of your food and drink.

Depending on your needs, they may organise:

personalised swallowing exercises with a speech pathologist
mealtime assistance plans
changes to your food and drink to make it easier to swallow
smaller meals more often
nutritional strategies and support
supervision and support to help you eat and drink

Transcript for 'An introduction to swallowing difficulties for residents and their families'

Read our Nutrition and texture-modified food and drinks fact sheet for more details.

For more on how your care team can support you, read the following fact sheets:

Oral health

The health of your mouth and teeth can affect your wellbeing and quality of life, including your dining experience.

Transcript for 'An introduction to oral health for residents and their families'

Read our factsheets to learn more about:

If you need support for oral health, talk to your care team first. Contact the Older Persons Advocacy Network to raise your concerns if your provider isn't helpful.

You can also contact us anytime for help and advice.

Dementia

Dementia can impact your food, nutrition and dining experience. You, your family, friends and other representatives can work with the provider to support this experience.

Providers should focus on creating dining experiences that:

improves your quality of life
supports nutrition and hydration
increases your sense of independence.

Watch our video about how dementia can affect eating, drinking and swallowing and how your provider can improve your dining experience.

Transcript for 'Food, nutrition, dining and dementia'

Other Resources

Colouring, conversation, creativity and care

Creative activities and colouring resources for older people and their caregivers

These colouring and creativity resources have been designed specifically for the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission with the intention of providing a multifaceted creative experience for older Australians living in residential or home aged care settings, and for the people who care for them.

Raising concerns

If you have concerns about your food and nutrition, raise them with your provider first. However, you can contact us if you feel uncomfortable talking to your provider.

We can: