Hi, I am interested in finding out what policies are in place in other aged care facilities with regards to happy hour. We have a mobile happy hour trolley for those who do not wish to attend. One of my concerns is that our residents are becoming frail and their dietary requirements are changing and the activity staff with the mobile trolley are leaving alcohol and nibbles and are not always advised of dietary changes. I am concerned that the lifestyle staff are putting the residents at risk as well as themselves should there be an incident. I welcome your thoughts, opinions and policies. Regards Heather
Hi Heather Thank you for you feedback. I understand your concern; it would be very sad for both parties if an incident were to happen. Management left the âHappy Hourâ very much in our hands in my days. Participants came or were brought in by nurses to the Happy Hour. We also had a list from the clinical staff regarding clients with relevant illness, such as diabetes, alcoholism, and those prone to falls. We took this list very seriously. We served one or two drinks which consisted of Sherry, Shandy, beer, and sometimes punch. Never spirits. We had such a good time, dancing away with traditional Pub music (English, Irish, Australian, German, Scottish), quizzes, and games. The emphasis was not on the drinking at all, rather on the music.
Hi Heather I too have put together a Dietary Needs List for my Lifestyle Team. The list contains information on Diabetics, Allergies, Thickened or thin Fluids, Normal/ Moist moist diets etc.
Sally
2nd May 2016
Hi Heather, We aren't allowed to provide alcohol for our residents. They may provide their own if they wish. We do have a list of diabetics. In High Care and Dementia it is a mobile trolley, in Low Care it is in the dining room and residents invited to attend and enjoy Ginger Beer (ice cream sodas) and biscuits, cheese and cabanossi, lots of games and quizzes. Good Times.
We permit the serving of alcohol and currently Best Practice is now not a diabetic diet for those in Aged Care which was highlighted by our geriatric dietition. Regarding dietary requirements we have a list that is computer generated of foods that people may be allergic to, what they like or dislike to eat. This includes any changes to dietary requirements and we can see the dates that this has been changed - then we print this out. This is looked into each time we hold any activities that include foods. We do not have a mobile trolley in our High Dementia area as most residents have particular food consistency needs. However we hold something specific in that area in collaboration with our chef and head nurse. Hence this means we hold our happy hour twice (not on the same day) to cater for the different needs of residents.
Golden Carers is an exceptional resource tool for the aged care industry. I like the quality of resources and regular newsletters alerting you to updates.
I am interested in finding out what policies are in place in other aged care facilities with regards to happy hour. We have a mobile happy hour trolley for those who do not wish to attend. One of my concerns is that our residents are becoming frail and their dietary requirements are changing and the activity staff with the mobile trolley are leaving alcohol and nibbles and are not always advised of dietary changes. I am concerned that the lifestyle staff are putting the residents at risk as well as themselves should there be an incident.
I welcome your thoughts, opinions and policies.
Regards
Heather
Thank you for you feedback. I understand your concern; it would be very sad for both parties if an incident were to happen. Management left the âHappy Hourâ very much in our hands in my days. Participants came or were brought in by nurses to the Happy Hour. We also had a list from the clinical staff regarding clients with relevant illness, such as diabetes, alcoholism, and those prone to falls. We took this list very seriously. We served one or two drinks which consisted of Sherry, Shandy, beer, and sometimes punch. Never spirits.
We had such a good time, dancing away with traditional Pub music (English, Irish, Australian, German, Scottish), quizzes, and games. The emphasis was not on the drinking at all, rather on the music.
We aren't allowed to provide alcohol for our residents. They may provide their own if they wish. We do have a list of diabetics. In High Care and Dementia it is a mobile trolley, in Low Care it is in the dining room and residents invited to attend and enjoy Ginger Beer (ice cream sodas) and biscuits, cheese and cabanossi, lots of games and quizzes. Good Times.