Team4Foods

Use mealtimes to improve medication adherence and resident monitoring

For senior living and healthcare operators, mealtimes offer more than nutrition — they provide valuable opportunities to support medication adherence and resident well-being. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly 89 percent of U.S. adults age 65 and older take prescription medications, making medication management a critical component of daily care.

Medication nonadherence remains a significant challenge. The CDC reports that as many as half of U.S. patients stop taking prescribed medications within one year, contributing to poorer health outcomes and increased hospitalizations.

Dining teams are uniquely positioned to help. Because residents typically attend meals multiple times per day, foodservice staff often notice subtle changes before others do — missed meals, appetite changes, confusion, fatigue, or altered social behaviors can all signal medication-related issues or emerging health concerns. Structured communication between dining, nursing, and clinical teams can help ensure these observations lead to timely interventions.

Some operators are also coordinating medication schedules with meal service when clinically appropriate, helping residents establish consistent daily routines. In communities where dining staff and caregivers collaborate closely, mealtimes become natural touchpoints for wellness monitoring, relationship-building, and early identification of potential concerns.

As resident medical needs continue to expand, integrating foodservice into broader care coordination efforts can help improve adherence, strengthen outcomes, and enhance quality of life.

Serving food offsite this summer? Prepare for elevated sanitation risks.

Summer is prime time for temporary events, pop-ups and catered functions. They can bring energy and new revenue opportunities, but they also introduce sanitation challenges that permanent operations do not face. Limited prep space, off-site transport, temporary staff and mobile service setups can all increase risk. CDC research on temporary food establishments found that improper hot and cold holding remains one of the most common food-safety concerns in event environments.

Preparation should begin before service starts. Operators can create event-specific sanitation checklists covering handwashing access, transport temperatures, cleaning schedules and waste handling. Health guidance for temporary food events consistently calls for dedicated handwashing stations, wash-rinse-sanitize setups, sanitizer test strips and designated food-prep areas.

Operators should also assign sanitation responsibilities in advance, verify portable equipment and reinforce hand hygiene. The CDC notes that contaminated hands contribute to most foodborne illness outbreaks linked to food workers, making handwashing especially important when teams work in unfamiliar environments.

Catering lessons can help senior living manage fluctuating demand

Catering operators manage demand swings every day — from busy wedding seasons to slower event periods. Senior living foodservice may be able to borrow their strategies as resident counts, occupancy and dining participation fluctuate. The key lesson is to build flexibility into labor, production and forecasting.

Many caterers now rely on predictive planning tools that use historical demand, seasonality and event schedules to adjust staffing and purchasing before volumes shift. The value can be significant because overproduction remains one of foodservice’s biggest waste drivers. ReFED estimates surplus food in the U.S. cost $381 billion in 2024, with food industry sectors accounting for $240 billion of that total. Better demand forecasting is increasingly viewed as one way to reduce avoidable waste and improve margins.

Senior living faces its own variability. Average occupancy continues to climb nationally — reaching 90.2 percent in the third quarter of 2025 according to NIC MAP research. However, many operators target occupancy of 90–95 percent to balance financial performance with flexibility for resident turnover and urgent placements. Meanwhile, even fully occupied facilities have to adapt to shifting preferences and dietary needs.

Tapping into scale can help manage fluctuating needs. Boston-based ezCater, for example, connects businesses with more than 75,000 restaurants and caterers nationwide. Its platform helps operators manage order histories, recurring demand and changing group sizes — all essential in a segment where meal volumes can shift daily.

Senior living operators can apply similar principles through flexible menus, cross-trained teams and production systems designed to absorb demand shifts without disrupting resident dining experiences. Looking at your operation, where is there opportunity to build in some flexibility — or tap into some scale?

The growing role of shelf-stable foods in labor-constrained kitchens

As labor shortages continue to pressure foodservice operations, many kitchens are turning to shelf-stable foods to improve flexibility and reduce prep demands. Products like shelf-stable dairy, ready-to-use grains, sauces, legumes, and aseptic soups are helping operators manage labor gaps while minimizing waste and storage constraints. According to the National Restaurant Association, 70 percent of restaurant operators report positions that are difficult to fill, while 45 percent say they have insufficient staff to meet demand.

Shelf-stable products can simplify workflows by reducing refrigeration needs, extending shelf life, and cutting time spent on prep and inventory management. In healthcare and senior living settings, they can also support emergency preparedness and menu continuity during supply disruptions. Some operators are pairing these ingredients with scratch cooking to preserve quality and interest while easing labor strain: Think shelf-stable quinoa and brown rice blends as a base for grain bowls, then adding freshly roasted seasonal vegetables, herbs, and made-from-scratch dressings.

As off-premises dining and lean staffing models continue to expand, ambient foods are becoming less of a backup solution and more of a strategic operational tool across foodservice. In what ways are you integrating them into your operation?