Beans have a number of nutritional qualities to support healthy aging, and they're delicious! This resource shares easy recipes and simple tips to include beans in your daily diet.


Appetizers
CHOICE+ a good start
The Program is made up of six principles
Connecting:
having meaningful conversations and socializingHonouring Dignity:
respecting decisions, choices and preferencesOffering Support:
supporting residents based on individual needsIdentity:
knowing and accepting residents as unique individualsCreating Opportunities:
supporting active mealtime participationEnjoyment:
creating a warm and welcoming dining environmentMains
CHOICE+ à la carte
Best Practices Virtual Tour
Champions for Change E-Learning Course
The CHOICE+ Champions for Change cource is for leaders who, having recongnized that a pleasurable dining experience is meaningful for residents, team members and family, want to implement long term change in their home.
This e-learning course provides a CHOICE+ work plan to:
- Build team interest in making improvements
- Engage stakeholders from the team
- Identify areas of focus
- Develop an improvement plan
- Measure success and ongoing goals
Desserts
CHOICE+ take-aways
Handy Checklist Ease Implementation
Here are some resources to help you apply the CHOICE+ best practices in your home. The atmosphere and physical space of a dining room play a big role in creating a pleasurable experience. Is your team able to make meaningful connections at mealtimes? Use these checklists to reflect on current practices and learn how to make the most of mealtime in your dining room.
CHOICE+ Principles:
Acknowledgement: The CHOICE+ Principles resources were supported with funding from the Government of Ontario to the Ontario Centre for Learning, Research, and Innovation in long-term Care hosted at the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the province
CHOICE+ E-Course and Community of Practice:
Acknowledgement: The CHOICE+ E-Course and Community of Practice were developed by the RIA, Heather Killer, RD, PHD, FCAHS, and Sarah Wu, PHD with support from the CHOICE+ Advisory Committee
These summary sheets share some of the key findings and recommendations from a research study called Making the Most of Mealtimes (M3). The study explored what residents living in long-term care eat and drink, and what factors promote better nutrition.
Tips for Better Pureed Foods is a resource about improving texture-modified foods for older adults with swallowing difficulties. It provides recipes and guidelines for preparing pureed foods.
This resource provides a selection of recipes that feature Ontario-grown foods and cater to the needs and preferences of older adults living in the community. Organized by dish (beverages, breakfast, snacks, salads, soups/stews, sides, mains, and desserts), there are over 50 recipes to choose from!
Eating Ontario-grown foods is a great way to promote health as you age. This video shares a “day in the life” of William, who is an older adult navigating changing health and trying to make healthy food choices.
Nutri-eSCREEN is a simple, online tool that assesses older adults’ appetite, eating habits, and changes in weight. This 14-question survey can help older adults find out what they are doing well when it comes to healthy eating and get tips on how they can improve eating habits.
The Mealtimes Matter video shares results from a national research study about nutrition and mealtimes in long-term care.
The Mealtime Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) is a short, 14-question tool to help understand the overall satisfaction of older adults living in retirement and/or long-term care with meals and the mealtime experience.
LIVING the Dementia Journey (LDJ) is an award-winning, evidence-informed training program for those who support people living with dementia. Participants gain awareness and understanding that changes not only the way they view dementia, but the way they support people living with it.
The Functional Foods for Healthy Aging Toolkit is a collection of resources on functional foods for older adults. It supports Registered Dietitians and other health professionals in communicating with older adults about the role of functional foods in healthy aging.
CHOICE+ is an innovative program that aims to improve the mealtime experience for residents in long-term care by focusing on relationship-centred practices and enhancing the dining environment. These six online education modules help teams in long-term care improve the mealtime experience.
This series of infographics highlights the health benefits of apples, beans, berries, eggs, and soybeans, and provides easy tips to make these nutrient-rich foods a staple in your diet.
Most older adults are not consuming enough key nutrients to stay healthy. The best way to get the nutrients our bodies need is through the foods that we eat, that's why it's important to choose foods that are nutrient-dense.