Nutrition Checklist for the Strengthened Quality Standards in Aged Care
- OSCAR Care Group
- 5d
- 7 min read
Aged care homes have had months to prepare for the Strengthened Quality Standards. Yet 3 weeks after coming into effect (1 November), many nutrition concerns are being raised.
Let’s explore these and help your aged care home work through a Nutrition checklist.
Did you know the MMQAs are changing?
Hold on, what’s an MMQA?
Check out what it is and if you’re ready: Menu & Mealtime Quality Assessment.
If your Aged Care home has never had an MMQA or MMR (Menu & Mealtime Review) before, reach out now!
‘Menus (including for texture modified diets) are reviewed at least annually through a menu and mealtime assessment by an Accredited Practising Dietitian’ as per Standard 6: Food and Nutrition in the Strengthened Quality Standards.
A.K.A 1 MMQA per year is mandatory. Let’s get this scheduled in yesterday. Contact us at dietitian@oscarcaregroup.com.au to organise this for you.
When was the last MMQA or MMR done in your aged care home?
If your home had a MMQA prior to 1 November – fantastic! Take note of this important date. Then, 9-10 months later, reach out to organise your next MMQA to ensure this occurs before that 12-month mark.
For example, if you had a free funded MMR in July 2025, your MMQA should be scheduled in by June 2026 (the latest). Or if you organised an MMQA in Jan 2025, reach out now to book in your next MMQA, to ensure this is finalised before Jan 2026.
Did you know that your next MMQA will be different to the last one?
What’s different about the new MMQAs?
Quite a lot. Some of these changes include:
MMQAs are requires at least annually going forward.
Each aged care home needs a menu review by a Dietitian
Each menu needs to include resident feedback and choice at mealtimes
Chefs need to follow standardised recipes
Temperature will be assessed for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner during the audit
Let’s explore some of these more, as well as a further checklist to see if your home is Strengthened Quality Standards yet.
Are Dietitians reviewing your seasonal menus?
Residents in aged care are reliant on the food service system for 100% of their meals, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, mid meal snacks and fluids and therefore they need the opportunity to exercise choice and decision making to maintain independence.
Did you know that as a minimum, your aged care home needs to change menus at least twice in a year?
Best practice and what OSCAR Care Group recommends are seasonal menus, so a change at least 4 times per year. Seasonal menu reviews by a Dietitian can serve as a source of inspiration for new dishes to reflect each change in season, whilst ensuring the final menu is tailored to your individual aged care home and residents within.
Do you have a Dietitian regularly review your seasonal menus within your aged care home? Our Dietitians use the Australian Dietary Guidelines and Dietitians Australia Menu and Mealtime Assessment Tool for Aged Care to create menus that are nutritionally adequate to ensure best health outcomes for residents.
Our Dietitians have the training and skills required to develop a menu in accordance with current standards and guidelines. OSCAR Care Group Dietitians are here to support you to develop a delicious and nutritious menu within your aged care home.
Are you seeking resident feedback?
There are so many ways you can seek resident feedback on menus and food within your aged care home:
Do you provide the menu to residents to look through and provide feedback on any changes they’d like? Then make these changes and implement this into the menu, and organise for a Dietitian review.
What about food focus groups?
Regular resident meetings which have some key questions on the menu and the food every month is key. Ensure these notes are documented so you can use as evidence to provide the Dietitian that you are indeed seeking resident feedback.
Regular surveys and feedback forms
Are you seeking feedback from all residents and how are you catering to those who are visually impaired? Can staff read the menu for these residents? What about residents who have dementia or cognitive impairment? Observe if they are enjoying the food, ask them. Discuss with families too.
The most essential above all of these: is your Chef walking around the dining rooms at mealtimes and checking on residents. Are they enjoying the food? Are they finishing the food? Would they like another serve, or something else? Chat to the residents. The residents love to see the Chef!
Dietitians encourage feedback from residents ensuring menus are tailored to the resident. The updated Strengthened Standards put residents first and this really highlights the importance of gaining and implementing resident feedback, choices and preferences regularly into a menu.
Standard 6: Food and Nutrition requirement:
‘Menus enable older people to have choice at mealtimes’
‘Menus are designed in partnership with older people and with the input of chefs, cooks and APDs’
'The dining experience meets the needs and preferences of older people to support social engagement, function and quality of life’
Aged care homes are encouraged to observe and monitor individual food intake throughout the entirety of the year. It is so important to gather resident feedback to personalise a menu for the group of residents within a home.
When residents enjoy the food they are provided, there is likely greater food consumed, reducing the risk of weight loss and malnutrition. It also reduces food wastage.
Does your Chef have standardised recipes to follow?
This is an expectation moving forward.
A great option if your home needs standardised recipes: you can order the OSCAR Care Group Aged Care Recipe Book.
It’s a fantastic recipe book including 290 Recipes: Breakfast, Main meals, Desserts and Mid Meals. It includes potential allergens, serves 50 residents, the varying IDDSI levels and it has been reviewed by experience Chefs, Speech Pathologists and Dietitians.
For more recipe support, reach out to our team!
Is your home fortifying foods for residents?
Malnutrition is a serious health condition that impacts the lives of too many residents in aged care.
Our Dietitians’ food first approach through food fortification is used to:
Minimise the risk of and reduce the rate of malnutrition.
Increase the energy and protein content of meals and snacks.
Increase meal satisfaction, enjoyment of meals and quality of life
Added bonus: supplement usage reduces, and homes save money on the cost of supplements.
To ensure that your home is fortifying all foods where possible, ensure your Chef and catering team are fully prepared and trained in this space. OSCAR Care Group offers a range of training, including on Malnutrition, High Energy High Protein (HEHP) and Food Fortification. This can be done onsite ore virtually.
To see more Food Fortification training detail, click here.
To book your training in, email dietitian@oscarcaregroup.com.au
Are you referring residents in a timely manner?
If yes, great work.
If not, your home needs to step up.
ENORMOUS concern for many aged care homes refraining from referring to a Dietitian ‘ to save money’ or due to old-school ways. Times have changed, this is not acceptable. Residents in aged care deserve better.
Why is it that some aged care homes are still pushing back on referring to a Dietitian?
Referring to residents in a timely manner is a crucial part to ensuring residents are cared for appropriately. Prompt Dietitian and Speech Pathology reviews provide residents with the best opportunity for utmost care minimizing the risk of adverse effects.
Do you have a list of reasons for referral to a Dietitian and Speech Pathologist? If you need assistance, reach out and we can provide you with a list of when to refer to a Dietitian or signs to look out for and when to refer to a Speech Pathologist.
Was your Nutrition and Hydration Policy recently updated?
What about Weight Management plans and malnutrition screening processes?
Are you aware of your aged care home’s malnutrition screening process?
Has it been recently updated?
Are your staff trained on how to conduct malnutrition screening accurately?
Using a malnutrition screening tool is so important.
it allows for a malnutrition risk to be identified and to allow for a preventive management plan. There are many screening tools available, including the MST and the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Each made up of a set of questions that have been proven to identify malnutrition risk. Once risk is identified, a referral to a Dietitian may be made.
Has your aged care home’s Dietitian referral process, weight management plan, enteral feed and Nutrition and Hydration Policies been updated recently? It is vital your aged care home updates these, and that staff are educated on how to follow these processes.
OSCAR Care Group can support you with feedback and updating your home’s nutrition policies and procedures.
Have you organised regular staff training?
Regular staff education is imperative and is part of the Strengthened Quality Standards. It is so important for staff to understand a variety of nutrition topics, to provide the care the residents need.
For example, if you have a resident with Coeliac Disease, following a strict gluten free diet – does your catering team understand this, and how to prepare food safely, know what foods to prepare, know about cross-contamination etc. OSCAR Care Group offers nutrition training on Coeliac Disease and the Gluten Free Diet.
What about if a resident is on a PEG feed - do your staff know how to care for this resident appropriately and safely? What about when the resident experiences changes when on a feed or you run out of the feed due to stock shortages? Do your staff know how to handle this? OSCAR Care Group offers nutrition training on Supplements and Enteral Feeds.
We have 40+ Nutrition educations which can be done onsite or virtually. Find out more about OSCAR Care Groups’ Nutrition Education options or email us.
When was your team’s last IDDSI training?
During the hundreds of MMQAs our Dietitians have conducted so far, IDDSi inconsistencies have been flagged as the greatest concern.
From incorrect food particle sizes, serving peas to residents on a puree diet, serving jelly and ice-cream to residents on texture modified diets, serving raw crunchy hard veggies to residents on a minced and moist diet and so many more major concerns. This is happening in hundreds of Aged care homes around Australia and grounds for significant unease due to residents’ safety.
It is essential that ALL staff who work with thickened fluids or texture modified foods (catering, care nursing and lifestyle staff) do a comprehensive IDDSI training on a yearly basis. If this does not occur in your home, start making training plans and get this approved. It is imperative for the safety of residents.
OSCAR Care Group can support you with Texture Modified Diets and Thickened Fluids through IDDSI training, which can be conducted onsite or virtually.
Remember to test foods following the IDDSI guidelines, and ensure Chefs also have practical IDDSI training to know how to test food and fluids.
OSCAR Care Group is here to help support your aged care home, staff and residents. Reach out for assistance now!
Kiarra Tanner Lo-Fong (APD), Lead Dietitian & Allied Health Manager at OSCAR Care Group
