Aged-care residents ‘need less food’ than prisoners

AS READERS share pictures of the meagre morsels being served up in nursing homes, the peak body representing aged-care facilities says most of its residents need fewer kilojoules.

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THE peak body representing aged-care facilities says most people living in aged care require less food than prisoners.

While Leading Age Services Australia chief executive Sean Rooney said more could be done with food in aged-care homes, he labelled comparisons to how much money was spent on prisoners and pets misleading.

The Courier-Mail revealed yesterday that a Bond University research paper based on financial reports from 817 aged-care providers with a total of 64,256 residents showed aged-care facilities spent an average of just $6 a day to feed their charges.

The average cost of feeding a prisoner is $8.25 a day, while older Australians living in their own homes spend an average of $17.25 a day on food and drink.

A sample of the nursing home food pictured by readers.

Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon said it was “disgraceful and appalling’’ that most pets eat more expensive food than many elderly people in aged care.

But Mr Rooney said conditions contributing to a limited dietary intake and the use of supplements included dementia, swallowing difficulties, poor dental health, chronic disease, depression and pain.

“In addition, it is extremely misleading to compare the food spend in an aged-care facility with that of a prison,” he said.

“About two-thirds of aged-care residents are women over the age of 80, who typically have a much lower calorie requirement than the predominantly younger male adult prison population.”

Not a green in sight.

Since yesterday’s report, The Courier-Mail has been contacted by numerous people sharing photos of the food their parents are served in aged-care facilities.

One Brisbane woman, who requested anonymity for fear her mother would be negatively affected, said the food was “disgusting”.

“I cook her favourite foods for her, and after years of fighting, she has been allowed a little bar fridge in her room so I can stock it with cheese and rolls and fresh tomatoes and chutneys that she loves and never gets,” she said.

“I have since been told staff are no longer allowed to heat these meals.

“So now what? Do I have to drive to mum at dinner time with a hot meal for her?”

The woman said her mother, who has dementia, would often go hungry rather than eat the meals served by the home.