Granting a makeover: Starting out small, a dining room project gains support. (Food Service).

THE TABLES ARE SET WITH A LINEN PLACE MAT AT EACH PLACE setting. A decoratively folded napkin centered in a service of flatware, an inverted bone-colored china coffee cup in its saucer above and to the right, and a wine glass standing next to the cup and saucer complete the welcoming place setting. There are fresh flowers in a bud vase on each table. Under a wall of windows is a porchlike area framed in white lattice with hanging baskets of ivy. When the dining room opens at 11:30 a.m., the buzz of lively chatter over a background of big-band music will fill the room as the residents enjoy their lunch in the Garden Pavilion. Residents? Yes, residents. The Garden Pavilion is the fourth-floor dining room at Sea View Hospital Rehabilitation Center and Home in Staten Island, N.Y.

Created to provide a more homelike dining experience and eliminate tray service, the Garden Pavilion is the result of a team effort. Linda Duane, MSRD, food service director at Sea View, chaired the committee, which included: staff members from administration, nursing, food service/dietary, engineering/maintenance, housekeeping, and activities. When the committee was formed in May 2000, its first task was to develop a mission statement defining its goals.

Sea View's committee then surveyed the residents to find out what they did and didn't like about the dining service. The residents were also asked how they felt about making changes to it. Although the residents' initial response was an unenthusiastic one, they felt the foodservice was fine as is, the committee realized there was room for improvement and proceeded with the project.

A big change for small change

Because the committee's members represented all of the departments at Sea View, it was able to stay within its budget of $500. Some of the bigger purchases normally involved in this type of a project were avoided because the items were found within the facility.

Sea View already had the lattice because of other renovation projects going on. The facility also had the china. It only had to be retrieved from storage. Linen tablecloths and napkins, bud vases, and the hanging plants were among the few purchases needed to create the new dining room. The "porch" area, hanging plants, and flowers prompted the residents to name the dining room the Garden Pavilion.

The positive results of the committee's initial investment led to additional financial support. The foodservice department applied to the Sea View Hospital Auxiliary for a grant to purchase new furniture. The Auxiliary decided to award the project $2,000. On "Make a Difference Day," a part of Chase Manhattan's Bank's community-service program, bank employees came to Sea View to help serve a meal and told the facility of the bank's grant program for nonprofit agencies. Sea View applied for a grant and was awarded $1,000. A second grant, this one for $2,000, was received from Chase Manhattan bank. These monies have allowed Duane to purchase new tables and Chippendalestyle chairs with a cherrywood finish.

The food is prepared in the main kitchen and brought up to the dining room in a multi-well steam table or a refrigerated table. Each resident's plate is made up to order and served restaurant-style. The labor-cost increase has been kept to a minimum. With CNAs, volunteers, and visiting family members helping those residents who need assistance eating, Duane needed to hire only one additional staff person to work a four-hour shift.

Benefits beyond atmosphere

The new dining room is more than a nicer place to eat lunch. Many residents feel the food tastes better in the improved setting and this is having a positive effect on weight loss among them. Sea View found that after the makeover was complete, 65 percent of its residents who ate in the fourth-floor dining room were eating better and had gained weight.

Lunch is served in the Garden Pavilion from 11:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., but often the residents arrive as much as a half an hour early to socialize and see what's on the menu. As each resident sits down, a place card with any dietary restrictions they may have is placed before them to help the server steer their choices appropriately.

The residents look forward to joining their friends for lunch at "their" table. Residents who previously never came out of their rooms to eat, now enjoy making the trip to the Garden Pavilion. And the staff enjoys the more cheerful atmosphere and decor as much as the residents do.

"I like the atmosphere, the music, and the service," says Mr. D., a resident who comes up from the second floor every day to have his lunch in the Garden Pavilion.

Only lunch is served in the Garden Pavilion because residents' careplans and varied daily routines would make serving breakfast and dinner difficult. The Garden Pavilion is used strictly as an everyday dining room and is dismantled when needed for seasonal or holiday celebrations.

A second helping

Sea View's success has the facility moving ahead with its plans to give the dining rooms on the facility's other floors a Garden Pavilion-style makeover. As this article went to press, work was about to begin on the second-floor dining room.

The Garden Pavilion is proudly shown to residents' visiting family members. On Thanks-giving, residents are allowed to bring a guest to dinner. Sea View has received letters from family members complimenting the facility on the dining room. "Feedback and results are higher than we anticipated," says Jim Barberi, RD, associate director of support services and a committee member.

Duane adds this bit of advice, "If you're going to do something like this, make it a team effort from the beginning and ask the residents first. Let them know what you're planning on doing."