Our December 2019 Conference Summary
If you missed our conference to finish up 2019, click here to see a snapshot of speakers and topics and be sure to mark Nov 6 2020 in your calendar for the Lantern Conference 2020.
Checkout our last year in a nutshell here!
If you are yet to join in to The Lantern Project - here's our last year in a nutshell to give you a snapshot of what our project (and members) are all about!
Sound up for a fun run through last year.
Dr Cherie Hugo on the news.
STOP PRESS!! We've been in the news a lot lately. Here are a few links...
EXPLORE App on the radio.
Click here to hear The Lantern Project on Radio National's Future Tense with Dr Rebecca Huntley
Join the Instagram Lantern Creative Challenge!
What is it? A competition for recognition of excellence in food preparation in the aged care setting.
Who can be involved? Aged care catering staff Australia-wide.
When? Start capturing your pictures now!
How?
1. Follow us on Instagram - @thelanternprojectoz
2. Capture and upload your creative challenge dish to Instagram
3. Tag your pic with @thelanternprojectoz
4. Include the following information in the message – Dish Name, Aged Care Organisation Name and the your state.
5. Apply the following taglines - #lanternfood #agfg #thelanternproject #agedcare #food, #LanternCreativeChallenge
Next Collaboration Meeting - April 3 - RSVP
Read about The Lantern Project 2019 - Feature article in Australian Ageing Agenda
Lantern Collaboration Meeting - Get Involved!
Join us on April 3, 2020 - for a focused collaborative discussion around the question "To Supplement or Not to Supplement?"
When? Friday, April 3, 7.30am-9am (AEST Time)
Where? Bond University Institute of Health and Sport, Level 5, 2 Promethean Way, Robina, 4226. (attend in person or via webinar link)
RSVP essential - click below to book your spot
RSVP for future meetings here
Next Meetings -
Friday, April 3, 2020 - Lantern April Collaboration Meeting "To supplement or not to supplement?"
Friday, May 1, 2020 - Lantern May Collaboration Meeting "The Art of Plating a Meal"
Friday, June 5 - Lantern June Collaboration Meeting "Culture Change around Food, Nutrition and Mealtime Experience"
Friday, July 3, 2020 - Lantern July Collaboration Meeting "Personhood - Meaningfully engaging with residents around food and mealtimes"
Friday, August 7, 2020 - Lantern August Collaboration Meeting
Friday, September 4, 2020 - Lantern September Collaboration Meeting
Friday, October 2, 2020 - Lantern October Collaboration Meeting
Friday, November 6, 2020 - Lantern 2021 CONFERENCE - SAVE THE DATE
Friday, December 4, 2020 - Lantern December Collaboration Meeting
Lantern COVID-19 Message
Amidst the current flurry with COVID-19, a quick reminder that food, nutrition and mealtime experience are the foundation of immune function and health outcomes.
Lantern COVID-19 Message
Current restrictions for aged care residents are vital given they are vulnerable HOWEVER...
Research shows that Social Isolation & Loneliness immediately:
- further increases the risk of malnutrition across our homes
- Malnutrition reduces immune function, increases risk of infection, falls, hospital admissions & quite clearly, death.
Lantern research shows simple strategies, incl staff engagement, can reduce malnutrition by 44% in 3 months.
MESSAGE TO ALL AGED CARE PROVIDERS - Catering services & staff support around mealtimes are more vital than ever right now. Opportunities to improve the mealtime experience for residents CAN improve intake & malnutrition levels. Join The Lantern Project for support in this space.
MESSAGE TO AGED CARE CATERING TEAMS - NOW is your time to step up & demonstrate how your service can positively impact our most vulnerable during this difficult time. Join The Lantern Project for support in this space.
The Lantern Approach - Cost Effective
The Nourish Study was presented at LASA Congress 2017. This 3 month intervention demonstrated The Lantern Approach - special food first strategies, staff education along with the removal of supplements - offered positives all around. For more information, check out the digital poster presentation and contact us.
What are we spending on aged care food in Australia?
Spoiler alert.....More on Supplements and Less on Fresh Food.
In case you missed our presentations at LASA Congress 2017, we've posted the digital posters to keep you updated on some of the latest Lantern Research.
Share your Story!
A few moments of your time can make a huge contribution to our work. Sharing one food memory will go a long way in helping us share much needed evidence to further improve the dining experience for nursing home residents. Grab a cuppa and share your aged care food experience.
EXPLORE App on the news!
STOP PRESS!! We made the news again. Thankyou Terraces Assisted Living Centre's staff and residents and Bond University for helping on the day!
SHINING THE LIGHT FOR OLDER AUSTRALIANS
The Lantern Project came about from an urgent need for change. I am a dietitian and I work in aged care every day. Current statistics show 50-80% of aged care residents in Australia are malnourished and I know there's ample room to improve on this. In order to look for ways to make positive change we began The Lantern Project - a national collaboration with the central goal to improve quality of life through great food and nutrition. This project is not about finger-pointing or laying blame, it is about getting in and working out tangible solutions that will work for everyone. Above all, it is about giving aged care residents the quality of life they deserve through improving the food and dining experience. And that is something every Australian deserves.
Dr Cherie Hugo, Founder
We'll be heading out on Lantern Aged Care Food Safaris in 2019!
If you enjoyed the 8 "Little Things" videos from the 2017 and 2018 Lantern Aged Care Food Safari, then stay tuned....We will be heading out on safari again in 2019 and will be sharing the next instalment in the "Lantern Little Things" videos.
Here's the background -
Factors affecting the dining experience in aged care homes are complex and the constraints are many. Often within this complex environment, the ability to innovate revolves around a culture that encourages staff to trial small novel ideas and gauge impact. The purpose of The Lantern Aged Care Safari "Little Things" project is to immerse within the culture of a number of identified innovative aged care food service settings to identify, document and further explore the impact of one novel idea (one “simple thing”) with the purpose to video capture the innovation, share the video via The Lantern Project, to inspire aged care homes Australia-wide.
The result? We will produce a short sweet video highlighting the great work from a few aged care homes and share it across social media. It's all about posting good news stories and we invite you to register your innovative organisation for the next round. Contact us via email to nominate your organisation today.
LANTERN COLLABORATIVE MEETS MONTHLY ON THE GOLD COAST
The Lantern Project Collaborative meets on the Gold Coast on a monthly basis to progress the work of the project, to strengthen our networks and work towards our individual and shared goals.
The meetings are held over a light breakfast on the first Friday of each month from 7.30am-9am. Participants can join in person or via teleconference.