Saturday 7 August is Aged Care Employee Day in Australia. A time to recognise our incredible aged care professionals in nursing homes, residential and in-home aged care services. It’s also an opportune moment to share the touching wellbeing initiative dished up by our Residential Services Team during lockdown last year.
Andrew Perta, General Manager Residential Aged Care, praised the team for carefully collating recipes from care recipients, their representatives and employees to curate the Residential Services Cookbook of tempting family favourites. “Remembering the recipes, describing their personal significance and recalling ingredients proved to be a nostalgic and emotional connection to loved ones at a time when it was needed most,” said Andrew.
“This cookbook is about much more than recipes. In a year that has been challenging and unpredictable for everyone, food has proven to be a common denominator we can all connect over. These recipes are a celebration and representation of the rich heritage and memories of our diverse culture and reflective of the Residential Services family. It represents the team’s dedication to exceptional care, particularly during tough times.”
“I’d like to say a huge thank you to our wellbeing teams for collecting recipes and their dedication to making this cookbook possible. In particular, Juliet Adams for overseeing the project and Lorelle Hunt and Linda Perrins for their great work editing and formatting the cookbook so it could be shared and enjoyed for years to come.”
Some recipes came with background stories and insights, and we’ve shared a few below for you to try at home. Included is Care Recipient, Anna’s, spanakopita recipe. The original came complete with a fun footnote that showed Anna wasn’t letting lockdown get her down. For time-strapped individuals Anna stated, ‘Alternatively, you can: 1. Go to the shop. 2. Buy a pre-made Spanakopita. 3. Bake it. 4. Enjoy!’
You can download a sample of some of the recipes to try.
Approved by Associate Professor Katrina Nankervis, Chief Nursing & Midwifery Officer, Executive Director, Residential Care & Support Services