Cura Hospitality is proud to celebrate National Nutrition Month (NNM) at our Life Plan Communities and Acute Care Facilities as covered in FoodService Director Magazine here!
Dining teams set aside special days and promoted how to eat healthier by featuring BeWell, our program which is designed to bring nutritious food to the table, while making the healthy choice the easy choice for all our dining guests! Our BeWell Wellness Experience Framework and recipes offer a behavior-based, nudging approach that helps our guests achieve their personal health and wellness goals!
Residents and staff at communities like Providence Point in Pittsburgh, PA, are experiencing a wellness education via an “informecial” video campaign featuring Jillian Wagner, Cura Dietitian, and James Masilunas, a supervisor, featuring NNM’s 2022 theme ‘Celebrate A World of Flavors.’
Speaking of flavors from the world, Cura teams are offering healthier foods with a global twist! At Asbury Heights, a UPMC senior community in Pittsburgh, PA, Cura Registered Dietitian Courtney Alberts educates residents on wellness, while featuring BeWell recipes. Japanese sesame citrus slaw samples were served along with a Thai Chili Shrimp Poke lunch special prepared with shrimp, jasmine rice, edamame, roasted corn, and coconut lime drizzle.
During NNM, we also recognized National Registered Dietitians and Nutritionist Day! As part of our gratitude, a social media campaign is currently underway featuring their dedication, including the work of our dietetic technicians and clinicians! These professionals routinely meet with medical staff and caregivers to design food choices that help speed the healing process, help those to achieve specific health-related goals, and overall, help us all lead a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle!
Whether they work for Cura or they are members of our clients’ teams, this special group of people shares our responsibility to incorporate nutrition into every medical and wellness care plan!
Meet some of these highly visible and engaged members of our teams, and learn why they choose to help people make informed food choices here:
Meet Michelle Doleniak, Clinical Nutrition Manager/MA, RD, LDN & Cura Executive Safety Sponsor, St. Anne’s Retirement Community in Columbia, PA
Why did you become a dietitian?
I started reading nutrition labels and ingredient lists on foods as I was shopping at the grocery store in my late teens and realized that I couldn’t pronounce most of them. My early journey of food “analysis” led me to the world of nutrition and I realized that my expertise could be used to influence the eating habits of those around me.
When I started working with seniors, there was no turning back – family dinners around the table, homegrown gardens, hard work, everything in moderation, and no processed foods—they had lived all of the solutions to best health in their lifetimes. Knowing that we (Cura) could provide moments of food happiness, a great dining experience only added to my personal satisfaction!
What do you like best about your job?
I love knowing that Cura can provide moments of food happiness and great dining experiences. “This brings personal satisfaction to me.”
Difference Maker…
Mostly, as a registered dietitian, I listen and respond with solutions. We are quite resourceful, and hardly ever believe that it can’t be done. During the pandemic, I comforted families and residents – delivered family-made dinners, shopped for special requests, and tried to keep loved ones connected to each other using food as the vehicle.
Meet Jill Johnson, MS, RDN, LD Cura Wellness Dietitian, representing Lifespark Communities in Minnesota including All Saints, Arbor Oaks, Birchwood, Boulder Ponds, Cedar Creek, Carver Ridge, Chaska Heights, Harrison Bay, Landmark of Fridley, Legacy of Farmington, Park Gardens, Polar Ridge, Sterling Pointe, Sugar Loaf, Urbana Place
Why did you become a registered dietitian?
I found it fascinating how food heals and plays an important role for people in managing their overall health. Medications may be necessary in treating conditions, but food can make just as big of an impact!
What do you like best about your job?
I like how each day is different. I may conduct food safety trainings with the foodservice staff to provide nutrition education sessions to residents. I find it rewarding when residents approach me requesting information on ways to improve their health through food choices. Their motivation and desire to learn fuels my soul!
Difference Maker…
I help residents, including those with memory loss reminisce during cooking demos. It’s rewarding to see them enjoy this experience. Some of the residents in memory care have told me, ‘I remember you coming last time to do the demo.’ It is meaningful for me to witness how they remember the demos even though I visit once a month.
Meet Sarah Leininger, MS, RD, LD, Aberdeen Village in Olathe, KS and Lawrence Presbyterian Manor in Lawrence, KS
Why did you become a dietitian?
It was a culmination of different factors. Who wouldn’t want to have a career where they get to talk about food all day? (I will admit it is challenging sometimes at mealtimes.) I love reading the latest research. Above all, I love working with people and helping them achieve their goals. Each person needs a certain approach and everyone wants to be heard. I wanted to be that clinician for them!
What do you like best about your job?
Visiting with the residents is one of the best parts of my day. I love bringing humor to my sessions to cheer them up, as rates of depression are high in the elderly. Choosing and enjoying foods are one of the few pleasures and freedoms they have left later in life, so finding foods and meals that they can look forward to is what motivates me to do what I do.
Difference Maker…
There was a resident who I worked with over the past several months who I will remember for the rest of my life. It was my first week of employment with Cura, and the team met with me and told me that the past dietitian had been unable to find a recommendation that worked for the resident. I always loved a good challenge and a stubborn patient. I met with the resident, and we instantly hit it off, reviewing the past recommendations and why they didn’t work out. I also collaborated with their family to bring in some of their favorite snacks. I know that I made a difference in the resident’s life, improving their relationship with food and quality of life. The family would always tell me that the resident would talk about me during their family visits and that I really made their day!
Meet Amruta Deshpande, Registered Dietitian, Lutheran SeniorLife at Passavant, PA
Why did you become a dietitian?
I chose food technology and management as a career to fulfill my love and interest in food science. The nutrition curriculum was a part of this degree that I had chosen. Later when I was in the first year of my college my father was diagnosed with cancer. I realized being a dietitian and helping him choose the right nutrition would have changed his prognosis and provided him a good quality of life. After his demise, I decided to further continue my education in clinical nutrition and help other families. I became a registered dietitian with the goal of empowering people to lead a healthy life by providing the right knowledge and nutritional care.
What do you like best about your job?
I enjoy the interaction with the residents/patients and their family members. I feel accomplished when an intervention works for the resident. The pleasure of this profession is when you see progress happening in a patient’s health status after providing the appropriate medical nutrition therapy.
Difference Maker…
I remember one of my residents with a history of cancer when he was struggling with the loss of appetite, diminished taste, and nausea after his chemotherapy. He was on IV fluids in the hospital. He had lost a significant amount of muscle weight. His family was feeling extremely helpless. We tried different supplements and appetite stimulants to help regain his sense of taste. I continued trying small amounts of his favorite protein foods, fortified his foods to provide additional calories. He was also doing moderate physical activity with the support of the physical therapy team. The patient slowly started gaining his muscle weight back and maintained his weight. I feel these individual stories of progress, is a win for me and are life-changing for my patients.
Cura even celebrates their “resident” dietitians! Dorothy Ramage (resident) was presented a proclamation and a special card from Nora Jenson RD-LDN clinical dietitian and Sue Kinzler, director of dining, who celebrated with her at The Community at Rockhill in Sellersville, PA!
