Food and candy... how do we ask well meaning visitors to NOT bring food in?

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Food and candy... how do we ask well meaning visitors to NOT bring food in?

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I work in a long term care facility and every holiday season we have a ton of visitors, family members, church groups etc. come through with candies and baked goodies that they leave for the residents. We do LOVE all of our visitors, however the food they bring in is becoming an issue. We have several diabetic residents, some with allergies, as well some that don't have a regular diet and require softened or even pureed foods. And it is a violation of privacy to put signs on doors or tables saying that this specific resident has a medical issue so please don't give them such and such foods. So how do we ask them to NOT bring food in? Instead bring something useful such as blankets, socks, decorations, ornaments, things that the residents will appreciate more than an unhealthy snack they gobble down without thinking? I want to be polite but also taken seriously. Thanks in advance!

Care Team Diet & Nutrition Long Term Care

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I volunteer at a local nursing home. It does not permit foods/drinks to be put out for availability to all residents. Family is asked to follow dietary guidelines for their family member and to monitor their consumption at parties. It’s a hard situation.

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I don't get why it is a big issue, both nursing homes my mom was in had a policy clearly stated upon admission of no food left in the rooms and anything brought in to be shared with the residents was to be routed through the nurse's station. Easy Peasy.

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It may not seem like a big issue but we are trying to not offend the people that routinely do this, especially because we haven't enforced anything like this before. I'm just overly conscious about these kinds of things :)

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Why is it a violation to report the special dietary needs of a person? I find this interesting.

My oldest brother was seriously ‘out of the box crazy.’ I cared for him with his ongoing medical issues before he died. Many times I had to take him to the ER. Once he tried to light up a cigarette in ER. It wasn’t in the waiting room where he would have been spotted quickly. It was in an area where he was waiting for medical care. I wish a nurse or doctor would have been present to chew him out!

Oh my God! I blew a rod! I lost it and simply asked him if he was out of his mind because the person next to him was on oxygen! He was oblivious to other’s needs. I remember thinking does the ER have to put up ‘no smoking’ signs in the ER for idiots like him. That day I told my brother to put the cigarette out and ask for a nicotine patch or I would not stay with him. He received a patch.

It seems like you should be able to place signs that politely ask that visitors ask about a person’s dietary needs before handing out treats.

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I find this interesting because schools are allowed to do this. Although there is a big difference, they don’t put a sign on the kid with the allergy, they put a sign on the classroom door. My youngest’s classroom is a “nut free” zone due to a student with peanut allergies. One year my daughters teacher also sent home a notice about the classroom being nut free and that homemade treats on birthdays were not allowed.

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Send out a letter at holiday time asking that everyone abide by the NO FOOD rules that the facility has established. All food that is brought in and left for the residents, therefore, will be either discarded or donated to a food bank.

The End.

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Why not have them leave the food at the nurses station or with the front desk? The thing about sending notices is, you won’t have the addresses of every visitor so I think the best approach is to accept all food graciously and have the kitchen staff monitor who gets it.

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Could you place [big] signs on all entry doors with the suggestions that you have written here and asking that food not be brought in? I would say something like BECAUSE WE LOVE OUR RESIDENTS, WE ARE ASKING.........

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Not sure I'd do the "Because we love our residents'... it implies (not on purpose, of course!) that those bringing food DON'T love them.

(2)

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How about a sign along the lines of:

"Due to health and safety concerns, please bring any outside food to the nurses' station/front desk and not to resident rooms."

Aside from special diets, it seems food in rooms would eventually attract bugs!

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I like it! I wouldn’t at all be offended to read a sign like you are suggesting. Before you know it, people will become accustomed to the new policy that is designed for the benefit of the residents. If you a few people squawk, so what? It’s impossible to please everyone.

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Funny that people are not aware of this. When I took food in, it was left at the Nurses desk as a Thank you. At her AL, in the lunch room for the staff. I never thought of dropping it off in peoples rooms. There was a resident at Moms AL that loved cookies. I asked if it was OK to bring him some.

I like the sign idea. My question is, why didn't Administration do this when the problem started. This should not be staffs responsibility. It should be part of the rules. It should be in the packets given to families of residents.

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On my FIL's last birthday, we brought him a birthday cake at the memory care facility. One of the residents invited himself into the family visiting area where we were having the celebration. My husband wanted to give him a piece of cake, but I stopped him and immediately got a nurse - the resident was an amputee in a wheelchair, and the first thing I thought of was diabetes.

I don't blame Hubs for wanting to share Daddy's cake - he's a very kind and compassionate person - but he's not medically-minded and didn't think of the possible consequences. That may be the case with many people.

BTW, we left the remaining half of the cake at the nurses' station for them to enjoy.

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The problem with the sign is, people will have to had to have read it in advance. A sign is just a bandaid. You still need to have something else in place such as having food left with the staff. You are going to get visitors who have been there in ages, so they will have brought food in because they never saw the signs.

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The elderly take a lot of medications and have serious health issues and have to watch their diet. Salt, sugar, fat to name a few. You would think people would know this. I agree with putting up signs, that would work.

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The wording on the sign that LoopyLoo suggested is very good.
I bet if you checked with the Health Department they also have regulations.
Generally food that is not baked in an "approved" facility and food that has not been prepared under the direction of someone that has taken and passed a Food Sanitation Course can not be served to the public. Particularly a "vulnerable society" that includes ... infants, children, pregnant women, people with a compromised immune system and the elderly... So you can also blame it on the Health Department regulations.

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Two lines of thought: put a large sign on the main door just as they do if there is a quarantine in effect, asking that all food be left at the nurses' station and will be distributed in accordance with residents' needs. But second: some of the diets (like some meds) become so restrictive that the resident never gets to enjoy a favorite old treat. Would a small piece of chocolate one a week hurt the person with diabetis? Dementia experts say that we even at times go overboard with pureed diets, when with some care (and time, which aides never have enough ot) a person might be able to eat more normally.

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I agree that close family members - especially the healthcare proxy - should be free to give their loved ones almost anything they want. My mom was on a pureed diet and for the most part that was appropriate, but she could still handle small bites of snacks like potato chips or crackers if I fed them to her carefully.

(6)

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Put a sign on the door coming into the facility.

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Ask the SCF director to send a nice, polite letter out to all families, saying they prefer no food to be brought in due to allergies and dietary restrictions. Suggest new socks, pants, shirts etc. Ask them to pass this along to all families and friends. Maybe if you come up with a draft, that will help them in sending it out. I received one every year as a friendly reminder.

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I like LoopyLoo's idea. A general sign for all will not point out who has diabetes or allergy concerns. It is hard to control bugs in these facilities and I think everyone understands that as well.

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As you know, food has always, throughout many cultures, been associated with love and caring for others. So please acknowledge the spirit with which it is given. Perhaps you might send out, or post (or both) a newsletter welcoming such gestures, and at the same time attempting to steer the giving along the lines of those things you suggested. Thankfully our food industry seems to be catching on that there are alternatives to mainstream sugary foods, and they are becoming more sensitive to dietary needs. If you do a little research, you might mention specific brands of sugarless candies or holiday goodies in your newsletter, so those who love to offer food items, might bring a more suitable fare. Good luck to you in communicating and advocating for those you serve! Happy Holidays!

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Maybe you could make a policy that anything to be consumed, food, candy etc needs to be left in the common area rather than individual rooms. This way the people/visitors showing their love and support with home baked goods can still do that and it’s available to all the residents and staff. If people really want to gift things individually they can do that with non consumable items and you could even give a list of ideas, needs many residents have or items that would be useful. I wouldn’t turn anything away just corral it differently. If anyone asks you can tell them that you have several residents with special diet needs but HIPPA prevents you from identifying them so this is the best way to make sure everyone who is able can enjoy the goodies. You could also say something about the tendency to horde or hide food some residents have can create problems so just eliminating the possibility keeps everyone safer and more sanitary, anything not served by staff needs to be enjoyed in the common areas or something like that maybe.

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Put the notice on the entrance door to the facility. If you know of any groups who will definitely be coming phone them and advise them in advance that this year you need to change your policy. I am a little concerned that you have people visiting residents who don't know what the requirements of the resident they are visiting are - I presume they are not wandering around dropping in on residents willy nilly that would certainly be an invasion of privacy and poor safeguarding on your facility's part.

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Good points, Taylor. Here in care centers they do not allow groups to come during cold and flu season due to risking frail residents. Only family members.

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I see the needs to protect some residents so folks shouldn’t feed others but ..I also see that food is a celebratory thing ..and saying no food from anything other than manufactered stuff is prohibited is not the answer. Remember to your residents this is their “home” and they should be permitted to enjoy the holdays as much as anyone. My mother was in some facilities where the food left much to be desired so bringing her “treats” meant a lot to her. She needed to watch salt but was actually losing weight and needed to eat more. So perhaps a sign indicating that shouldn’t share food without permission but as far as own family member just be aware of any restrictions. Also...it isn’t that “hippy” prevents putting signs up that someone has a dietary restriction ..you can do thigns for safety. Such as fall risk signs. Also, as long as you have permission from resident or their medical poa you can post exact information as to what they can’t be allowed. Too many medical facilities just use the blanket privacy issues instead of being proactive. Interesting also because the main purpose of that law was to make people’s medical information more available when they need care and that has become even more difficult with hospital and labs not coordinating computer information with doctor offices.
These people in your care don’t have much to enjoy in what remains of their life ..taking away all homemade foods would be a sad thing.

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Have never been in your situation so this is just a "possibility" in my mind, but may not work in your situation. I would post a sign at the door that all food products must be presented- given to the receptionist. Have cheap plastic bins somewhere with names on them/and a list of things that person may NOT be given (sugar, nuts whatever) and have any food items placed in each person's bin. That way, staff could check and discard items not suitable for each person perhaps giving them to someone who does not receive visitors/gifts. This might be a great job for volunteers to arrange and then take over management for the staff- having a staff member come along and check items in bins when they are able.

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My mother had swallowing difficulty and subject to aspirating. Some of her church friends most likely did not know this. She had dementia. They finally had to flat out put a sign over her bed on the wall. Rules or no rules because they had to have mobile x-ray unit out there twice. Dementia patients should be an exception on this rule for signs.

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A standing order on most charts is one holiday meal a month! They didn't get to be this old to have the best parts of life stolen! Of course a resident on a feeding tube can't eat cookies and those should be collected but, in general the treats are for the residents. 20 years in geriatric nursing 180 bed facility and cannot recall one episode of food allergy reaction or diabetic commas. The biggest problem was keeping a roommate from eating ALL of the other roommates cookies/candies.

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A resident on a feeding tube can’t have cookies? That’s not universally true. My FIL had a feeding tube and was still able to eat solid food including cookies.

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Without disclosing any confidential info, why not just put a sign on each door that says - Please check with the nurse before giving our patients any food, candy or drink....We request this to ensure all patients receive the correct diet' or something similar.

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Hello, Morton0501. I've not gone through all the responses yet, but ... I would receive them gratefully and say "we'll put these out later". Then you put them out in the staff room, or encourage staff to bring Tupperware (etc.) to take them home to their own families--y'all have more than earned them, Karma-wise. What I like about this idea is that you're not lying at all by saying "we'll put these out later".

And, naturally, dole them out on the QT to the intended recipient, if s/he are allowed the sugar.

Thank you!

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Place the notice on the entrance door of the facility - Something along the lines of - "While we certainly appreciate your generous gifts of food stuffs including candy, they cannot be consumed by our residents due to dietary restrictions. Gifts of blankets and the like are most welcomed." You can choose your own wording without being overbearing.

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Perhaps it would be Good to Go in and Remove anything such as this, After the party is gone. My husband had to Take all of the Sweet Treats HOME with him when he was told that Joyce has no Voice or Choice...

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that's theft!

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Thank you all for the help! I came up with a sign to post on our front doors and on our facility facebook page. It has been shared quite a bit, even to other states! Family members, community members, and volunteers all LOVE the idea! I even mentioned some alternatives they could bring in and it's been such a great turnout and it's not even been posted for a week! Thanks again! :)

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Great job going over every residents head and behind their backs! Lost their home, family, pets, vehicles, privacy, independence, children around the tree Christmas morning and finally the damn cookies. Excuse me if I don't thank you for your contribution their future expectations.... it's not looking good!

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If I were in one of those places, and I was in reasonably good health, I would have my family smuggle in the candy and cookies:)

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If I was your family member, I’d gladly smuggle holiday treats in to you :)

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Post a general notice sign that says just what you said.

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I’d just like to say ONCE again that HiPPA does not prohibit posting signs with peoples allergies ..it just says you have to inform them and give them a chance to opt out if possible ..so if you tell them or their poa thaT allergies are posted so that it is immediately apparent to anyone providing food that may be a danger to a resident then you can post a six foot tall sign ! There are plenty of cases of staff not knowing a particular patient because they are a float or agency worker and gave the wrong food to the wrong patient ..heck we found our mom in her hospital room with an entire tray of food in front of her ..some in her mouth ..having suffered a stroke during night which the people who gave her the tray (as ordered the night before when she was eating fine) thinking that her drooping mouth and left sided weakness were just normal leftovers from her stroke four years earlier... so ..it’s not always just visitors that don’t know stuff , Signs about allergies might be more useful and life saving , just sayin

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Food and candy... how do we ask well meaning visitors to NOT bring food in?

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