Woodland gets tips from Burnbrae about breakfast programming
Friday October 19, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
Having heard about the successes of breakfast club programs at other OMNI homes, Woodland Villa is hoping to soon set up its own breakfast club.

Sheila Leask, nutritional care manager (NCM) at the Long Sault long-term care home, says Woodland’s management has recently been discussing the idea, and is hoping to start a breakfast club for residents in the near future.

Breakfast clubs are typically held in small groups, usually no more than six residents. The club has a rotating membership, so it can engage as many residents as possible.

“We were talking about starting something like this, because some of the other homes are doing it,” says Leask.

Leask explains the benefits she believes Woodland residents would get from the program.

“I think there’s a social benefit of having a smaller, intimate group, rather than mass serving, so there might be a little more socializing,” she says. “It might be a more relaxed pace.”

However, before the program can be established at Woodland, Leask has some questions she would like answered about how to successfully create and sustain a breakfast club.

And what better person to ask than someone who has successfully managed a breakfast club and seen its benefits?

Enter April Anderson, life enrichment co-ordinator at Burnbrae Gardens in Campbellford. Anderson has run the breakfast club program at Burnbrae for 5 ½ years and says it has been successful.

Anderson was happy to answer some of Leask’s questions.

Is it possible to involve residents with simple cooking tasks?

“I used to do that when I first started, but we had problems with it because our home is too small,” says Anderson. “But if you have a separate little kitchen or dining room you can use,” you can have residents help out with simple tasks such as beating eggs and buttering toast.

How big should each group be?

Anderson recommends breakfast clubs be done in smaller groups on a frequent basis.

“For me, the purpose of the program is one-to-one. I do a group of six and often I think that’s too many,” she says. “I’ve started to do it almost every week now, versus twice a month.”

How do you time the program so residents who are not involved don’t feel as if they’re being left out?

“I try to have it in a whole different location,” says Anderson. “That’s why the smaller groups are better. I can take mine into the lounge where it’s away from the dining room, away from the bird’s-eye view of the residents, and then they don’t get those feelings.”

Should men and women have separate breakfast clubs or should they be in the same group?

“You can combine them, but I just found it didn’t work as well, because the men would leave,” says Anderson. “I find it’s best if you separate the men and the ladies.”

Adding to this, Anderson says in her experience men prefer a fried breakfast, such as bacon and eggs, while women prefer a light meal of fruit, toast and scones.