Your storyis our story
Wesley Mission aged care homes make dining enjoyable. You can be involved in our regular tasting sessions or join the Resident Food Satisfaction Committee. With the help of dieticians and speech pathologists, we provide fresh nutritious meals at all of our nursing homes that are designed to meet your dietary needs without compromising on flavour or nutritional value.
At Wesley Mission Queensland, the dining team have a saying "Every Mouthful Counts".
We took some time out with our Head Chef, Russell, to find out where the saying comes from and to talk about everything from feedback and resident choice through to variety and dietary requirements.
My name's Russell Kearney, and I'm the head chef for Wesley Mission Queensland.
One of our key focuses on what we do is every mouthful counts.
High protein high fat diet is critical to someone who's in residential aged care
very, very important.
We try and make sure we get
as much nutritional value into a resident's diet as possible.
So it's a holistic approach.
With the meal prep on site and off site, it's a really fine balance.
Off site, we do highly complex items
that are significantly labor intensive.
At site, we do so things that lend themselves to being cooked fresh
cooked hot, have the most impact to a resident.
We get feedback in multiple different ways
It's not just one way.
So we get we get every resident's interviewed every six months.
We attend resident meetings.
So I'm at Cooper House today and I'm attending a resident meeting
after that, I'll actually go an speak to a resident who's not able to attend the meeting.
Flexibility around dietary requirements or religious beliefs,
we actually have a dedicated special kitchen with dedicated special
chefs who produce gluten free meals, lactose free meals, vegetarian, vegan.
I want to make sure that
the meals I provide are the best I physically can,
and I always put in my mind I'm looking after my grandmother.
So I want it to be absolutely the physical best we can do.
“We have a dedicated special kitchen who produces gluten free meals, lactose free, vegetarian, vegan... I always put in my mind I'm looking after my grandmother. I want it [the food] to be absolutely the best it can be.”
Russel, Head Chef at Wesley Mission Queensland.
We provide fresh, nutritious meals to meet your dietary needs. This includes buffet-style dining and in-room dining at breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. Our menus rotate considering feedback from our Resident Food Satisfaction Committee and seasonal produce.
Developed by our dieticians and speech pathologists, most of our meals are available in three different textures depending on your needs - without compromising on flavour or nutritional value. We can also organise catering if you'd like to host a special event for friends and your family (at an additional cost).
For more information on food and dining at Wesley Mission Queensland aged care homes, please contact us.
Our approach to food and dining is flexible. Whether you’re entertaining family and friends in private dining spaces, or enjoying a quiet meal in your room, it’s always your choice. You can use the communal kitchen, some complete with a self-serve buffet, and are welcome to work alongside WMQ staff to prepare and serve each meal. All our aged care dining rooms are set up to create a healthy community and sense of companionship. Our chefs regularly meet with our residents, dietitians, nutritionists and speech pathologists to plan, prepare and package a wide variety of meals.
