Pot roast with fresh vegetables or potato and leek soup made with local produce doesn’t sound like most people’s idea of nursing home food, but Amy Ronan and Dimsie Clark are trying to change that.

Ronan, director of nutrition for Senior Living at Lincoln County Healthcare, and Clark, registered dietitian for Senior Living, want meals served at the Gregory Wing at St. Andrews Village in Boothbay Harbor and Cove’s Edge in Damariscotta to taste and feel more like home and less like traditional institutional food.

That means offering meals on china with silverware and, when possible, from tables with fabric tablecloths in a dining area. Gardens at both the Gregory Wing and Coves Edge provide fresh herbs and vegetables, and food from local providers like Mill Cove Lobster and Morning Dew Organic Farm means a fresher, more home-like dining experience.

The idea is to use food to improve quality of life, not only by giving residents a better tasting meal, but also by linking meals with activities like cooking and gardening that were once a treasured part of their lives.

That focus on improving both residents’ health and their quality of life is one reason both the Gregory Wing and Cove’s Edge have received five stars in the Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare ratings.

Clark said that if residents are eating more, they are also less likely to experience muscle loss or other health problems like depression. Perhaps even more importantly, good tasting food just makes them feel better and an improvement in mood can have real therapeutic benefits. 

A growing body of research highlights the importance of quality of life in helping people recover from health setbacks as well as simply living longer. 

Residents also make personal requests and Ronan said that whenever possible chefs accommodate those requests. One resident frequently asks for a hamburger. Barbecue ribs or hot dogs with caramelized onions are other favorites. Ronan said her staff also works hard to make birthdays and other celebrations special – offering residents their choice of cakes for their birthday.

And sometimes food can be a special occasion in itself.

One of the most popular meals at the Gregory Wing is the homemade pizza that residents help make with Activities Director Jerie Phinney. The pizza is so popular that doctors sometimes time their visits so they arrive on a pizza day. 

Pizza may not be everyone’s idea of therapeutic food, but residents enjoy it and they have fun making it, said Clark, and that is the whole idea.