Exchange Volume No. 14, 2019 What’s Inside? Welcome Pg. 2 A drink a day Pg. 3 The Art of Cooking Pg. 4 The New State Survey Pg. 5 Healing Foods Pg. 9 Cultural Celebrations Pg. 14 What is Nutrition LInk Services? Pg. 6 Welcome Annette o’neill Pg. 8 Welcome! Exchange Please join us in welcoming Gerald Gervasio as our new Chief Operating Officer In his role, Jerry will be responsible for all matters related to the daily operations of Pinnacle Dietary. Jerry worked for Pinnacle Dietary from 2008 to 2014 as Vice President of Operations and returns to us now as COO, bringing with him experience in fiscal budgets, corporate and regulatory compliance, human resource and union contract negotiations and policies, and training and development. In this role as a member of the executive team, Jerry will directly oversee the Pinnacle Dietary senior operations team and will work with both the Pinnacle employees in the facilities as well as senior level management of our clients to ensure all levels of operations are running efficiently and in full compliance. Jerry can be reached at [email protected] or 215-630-9830. New Hires PRISCILLA GRANT NEIL NELSON ANDREA SAENZ ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DINING DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, REGISTERED DIETITIAN, KING DAVID SERVICES, CANTERBURY MONMOUTH LUCIA DAVIS KIMBERLY MITCHELL VICTOR SANABRIA REGISTERED DIETITIAN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DINING DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, CROWN HEIGHTS SERVICES, MANHATTANVILLE VENETIAN SUSAN BALASSIANO SARAH DONNER RAYMOND CABANA REGISTERED DIETITIAN, WATERVIEW CHEF MANAGER, WEDGWOOD DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, MANHATTANVILLE VIKTORIA RUSINOVA ANDREW GAYLE REGISTERED DIETITIAN, VENETIAN DIETARY SUPERVISOR, JOHN VANDERBECK WATERVIEW DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, TAMMILEE BENSON WEDGWOOD REGISTERED DIETITIAN - PT, LINDEN ANAKAWONA JOSEPH DIETARY SUPERVISOR, ALIESHA JOHASHEN WEDGWOOD DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, WATERVIEW JEFF ROLEN DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, CHARLES RICCIARDI CORNELL PURCHASING DIRECTOR, CORP. OFFICE Keeps the Doctor Away ... By JeannineA Re McNamara Drink a Day Or Does It? We have all certain cancers. heard the excuse As a matter of that a drink or two is good for fact, even moderate your health. But how beneficial drinking can be linked to is drinking, and does the type of breast cancer and colorectal alcohol really matter? Researchers are cancers. Increasing folate starting to look more closely at studies intake (found in leafy dark green of alcohol and health. Recent research vegetables and citrus fruit) is shown seems to be questioning how beneficial to reduce the risk of breast cancer wine and other alcohols really are for you. from consuming alcohol. But those individuals with a family history or genetic Previously, wine was believed to be the alcohol of predisposition for cancer should consume choice, due to the nutrients found in the skin of the less than one drink daily, regardless. grapes. However, the results of these studies don’t take into account the type of people drinking wine versus those Despite the negative aspects, moderate amounts drinking other alcohols. They are now considering the fact that are believed to reduce your risk of cardiovascular wine drinkers tend to be of higher socioeconomic status than disease, diabetes, and dementia. However, one cannot beer drinkers. This class of people overall is more focused on a make a blanket statement that alcohol is beneficial to healthy lifestyle, which makes it appear that wine is a “healthier” everyone; it must be looked at on an individual basis. choice. Studies now indicate that the type of alcohol is far less This is because when accounting for a person’s age and important than the amount. their risk for cardiovascular disease, you need to weigh the effect of alcohol consumption. Researchers feel that Moderation in alcohol consumption appears to be profoundly in young individuals, the risk of negative side effects beneficial to your health. However, moderation can be very of alcohol outweighs the benefits, but once a person is subjective, so let’s look at what moderation means to the approaching 60 years old, their risk of cardiovascular researchers. Moderate alcohol consumption is considered one disease increases significantly, and alcohol becomes a drink per day for a woman and 1–2 drinks per day for a man. A more positive consideration. One also needs to consider drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, and 1 1/2 that there are other lifestyle changes, such as exercise, ounces of hard liquor. Research also suggests that you stick with improving your diet, and implementing stress-reducing the daily total either 2–3 times a week or seven times a week. Of techniques, that are just as beneficial to your heart and course, those of you who believe you can save your drinking up mind without negative side effects. Researchers are for going out on weekends are mistaken. Rather, having more starting to look more closely at studies of alcohol and than 1–2 drinks on any day is considered heavy drinking and is health. The consensus now is that those who already detrimental to your health, even if you didn’t drink at all any other enjoy consuming moderate amounts of alcohol can day of the week. accept the benefits and continue, but there is also no reason to start if you don’t already drink. Heavy drinking or binge-drinking puts you at risk for liver inflammation, cirrhosis, elevated blood pressure, damage to your heart, weight gain, appetite stimulation, and Pinnacle Exchange 3 The of Back to Basics By Chef Roel Lopez, Culinary Instructor At Pinnacle Dietary, not only do we care about our residents, but we also care about our culinary team behind the scenes that is dedicated and committed to care every single day. This is why I am happy to announce our upcoming Pinnacle Dietary Culinary Clinic. There is no better way to express our gratitude and appreciation for all of our culinary artists than with a two-day lecture, hands-on training, and exciting competition. Nothing is more exciting than seeing a classroom full of talented, passionate, and hard-working culinary artists from different regions networking, exchanging ideas, having a good time, and learning the art of cooking. During this two-day training, our culinary team will learn the basic fundamentals of cooking such as knife skills, cooking techniques, creative cooking, infused flavor technique, plating, and presentation. The excitement continues with our much-awaited culinary competition, during which our talented culinary team will demonstrate their passion and creative works with their own signature dishes, which will be judged by our own residents. Not only is this a learning opportunity but also a day of fun that adds fuel to our culinary team and fires up their passion and love for cooking. 4 Pinnacle Exchange ‘DON’T TAKE IT SO PERSONALLY’ — OR MAYBE YOU SHOULD! Maneuvering the New State Survey Clinically, dietitians focus on assessing a patient’s therapeutic diet Grab and Go Items needs. However, more recently, we have learned that in the long-term care setting, we need to take a more liberalized approach. We have • Nicely packaged in clear clam shell; prepared and stored in shifted away from such diets as low-fat or low-cholesterol. The new refrigerator survey takes it even a step further: We must now allow the resident to • Sandwiches with a small bag of chips, or individually wrapped make the choice about their diet, despite what we think is best for them. cookies, and some fruit or side salad The following steps will help you meet this goal while ensuring there is no failure to provide appropriate care: • “Dinner salad” platter with a source of protein such as tuna, chicken, egg salad, etc. 1. Explain to the resident what diet was prescribed and why. Then determine if the resident wants to comply with it. Be creative and have special employee meal sales, such as make- your-own burger/hot dog/stuffed potato etc. to offset cost of to-go 2. Educate the resident and family on the effects of not following the packaging. diet restrictions. Buildings With a Warmer 3. Document that the diet and side effects of noncompliance were reviewed and understood. Prep meals as usual, then plate a few and hold in warmer to be available one hour before and after the meal service. 4. Document that the resident/family insisted on noncompliance despite understanding the consequences. Be sure to interview residents upon admission to find out what general time they eat meals. This will help you plan for how many meals you will 5. Be sure to document this in the Care Plan as well. need at nontraditional times. Try to adjust the times to fit into tray delivery 6. Upon follow-up documentation, assess if the resident’s choice times by having a first truck and last truck that can go to multiple units. stays the same. Rearrange tickets so those who want to eat early are first and on the “early” truck, while those who want to eat later are on the “late” truck. A resident also has the right to refuse proper nutrition, despite the The menus also need to reflect cultural, religious, and ethnic needs and negative consequences. Again, we must ensure that we document preferences of the residents. Due to the variety of residents in each properly to show we have made every attempt to meet the resident’s facility, this can seem like a daunting task, but there are many ways nutritional requirements. your department can meet the residents’ preferences. 1. Always educate the resident and/or family on how refusal of foods, • Monthly food committee meetings are a must. The State may even fluids, or supplements will affect their health.