[Night Eye Care]Depressed Ecstasy Rice Soft Meal Improves Appetite and Allows People with Dysphagia to Enjoy Delicious Food

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(Hong Kong News) The term “soft meal” was not popular five years ago. In residential care homes for the elderly, food forms are generally divided into normal meal, broken meal, cut meal and paste meal; and the public only regards the form of solid food mixed with water as “paste meal”.

Regardless of whether the patient has dysphagia or not, as long as he cannot eat normal meals (such as poor teeth bite), he has only the choice of pasted meals. This was because the market lacked choices at that time, and it was not popular to use soft meal enzyme powder, food coagulation powder, etc. to change the shape of food, or even shape it with molds.

Refer to Japanese food design for the elderly

The 6th Gerontech Expo Summit (hereinafter referred to as the Geron Expo) held in early November last year marked the fifth year for me to join the elderly service and promote soft food culture.

The team has been paying attention to the elderly food market in Japan. Because Japanese social welfare institutions attach great importance to the health and diet of the elderly, care food (called “care food” in Japanese) has been developed for many years.

Research on dysphagia in Japan,

It was found that aspiration pneumonia was one of the common causes of death among local elders.

In view of this, Japan began to study nursing food technology as early as the 1980s

such as food softening technology, food coagulation science, etc.,

And design a series of community service packages,

Such as ordering (subscription based) meal delivery service.

The Japan Care Food Association also advocates universal design of food

(UDF-Universal Design Food).

Japan has always advocated the concept of “oral feeding”, hoping to delay the need for nasogastric throat for patients with dysphagia and provide patients with better dietary choices.

I remember the first time I visited “Aoba no Sato” in Tokyo, Japan, and the dean specially prepared daily meals for us. There are 4 choices for the same menu, with different textures, namely normal food (i.e. main meal), soft meal, soft meal and paste meal. Even if it is a pasta meal, the color matching and pattern design have been thoughtful, and the appearance alone can increase the appetite.

The dean shared that as long as they can make the elders smile, they will do their best. I was deeply moved by their service philosophy centered on the well-being of the elderly.

Residential Elders Lose Appetite and Lose Weight

I had just joined the social welfare sector at the time, and saw that the elderly in Hong Kong’s residential care homes for the elderly lacked appetite and lost weight. ‘Isn’t it the most important part of residential life?”, “Is there really no way?” I have seen the exquisite “care food” in Japanese nursing homes, and I hope to bring soft meal production skills and technology back to Hong Kong, and design local food that the elderly like , the only way to localize the technology.

So, my team and I used our brains and happened to think of it in Stephen Chow’s classic movie “The God of Cookery”. After eating the ecstasy meal cooked by Stephen Chow, Jia Yan exclaimed a line of dialogue: “Why? Why do you want me to eat a whole meal?” Such a good bowl of char siew rice? What if I can’t eat it any more!”

The delicacy of Depressed Soul Rice is certainly mouth-watering, but for me, “what should I do if I can’t eat it anymore?” This classic movie dish is made into a real-life “Gloom and Soul Rice Soft Meal”, hoping that the elderly don’t need to rely on movies only to relive this delicious dish.

Maintain dignified eating for the elderly

In this way, a bowl of “Depressed Soul Barbecued Pork Rice Soft Meal” was born.

In 2018, I participated in the senior exhibition for the first time. With trepidation, I put on the chef’s uniform and served a bowl of “Gloom and Soul Rice Soft Meal”.

I very much remember that many elders came forward full of curiosity and asked: “Is this fake food?” When they knew it was soft food, they would ask: “Do I have difficulty swallowing?”

At the time, they didn’t know where to buy food for people with dysphagia or where to find relevant information.

Looking back on the past 4 years, in addition to holding soft meal classes for community caregivers and residential chefs, we have also gone to schools and community centers to share soft meal techniques. What impressed me the most was that 23 “Mobile Five Senses Teahouses” were held under the epidemic. I found that the elderly in the residential care had a very high demand for nursing food. Almost half or more of the elderly in each residential home needed to be specially processed into soft meals. .

The elders who participated in the “Mobile Five Senses Tea House” are very grateful to be able to regain the taste of drinking tea “two pieces in one cup” through soft meals every time.

The road of soft food is getting wider and wider. In the first year, there were only 4 soft food booths in the Senior Expo. This year, more than 13 non-government organizations, social enterprises and businesses participated. Nursing food experience and education hall”, in addition to displaying soft meals using different production techniques, there are speech therapists’ assessment and rehabilitation introduction, as well as the International Dietary Standards for Dysphagia (IDDSI).

The Senior Citizens Fair is a testament to the efforts of different stakeholders. I am grateful to be able to participate in this process and meet a group of friends who share the same philosophy. Let us continue to fulfill our mission and maintain the dignity of eating for the elderly!

Wen Wen Huiyan

Dysphagia common 3 features can cause pneumonia in severe cases

Swallowing is a very natural and simple thing for most people. For some people, however, it takes a lot of training, coordination and skill to eat and swallow safely.

These people with dysphagia include stroke, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, nasopharyngeal cancer patients, etc. Dysphagia commonly has the following 3 symptoms.

3 common features of dysphagia

Common features of dysphagia include:

1.Coughing or clearing the throat when eating or drinking

2.Food often remains in the mouth, feeling that food is “stuck” in the throat

3.Voice becomes cloudy after swallowing

If left untreated, severe cases can lead to invasive pneumonia, dehydration, nutritional deficiencies and weight loss. When many patients and their family members find that they have difficulty swallowing, they will seek help on their own, and may be referred to speech therapy services by their doctors.

When a patient comes in for an evaluation, the speech therapist first looks at the mouth muscles and swallowing ability. Afterwards, the speech therapist will formulate appropriate follow-up and training programs according to the patient’s swallowing ability and needs, including: recommending appropriate meal texture and liquid consistency for the patient, sitting posture during meals, and eating or feeding techniques.

Difficulties in eating cognition leading to food refusal

Patients with poor swallowing ability may need oral muscle and swallowing training, including: tongue, lips, jaw and other parts of the mobility, coordination and muscle endurance training, oral muscle massage, different swallowing exercises (mainly for the throat muscles), swallowing Reflex stimulation training and neuromuscular electrical stimulation swallowing training, etc.

Patients with dementia may not only have difficulty in swallowing, but often also have cognitive difficulties in eating, which leads to food refusal behavior and insufficient nutrition and water. I have encountered many elderly people with dementia. Due to their gradual deterioration in food cognition and less physical exertion, their food intake has become smaller and smaller, and their weight has also become lighter.

For such patients, the speech therapist should take into account feeding techniques when they eat and drink, such as feeding technique, use of utensils, food taste and temperature, and patient’s preference for food and drink.

No matter what kind of disease causes dysphagia, speech therapists hope that through appropriate training and feeding advice, they can help patients eat and drink more safely, so that they can also enjoy food and enjoy eating with family and friends.

Text Ke Yingxin (Speech Therapist)

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