Good nutrition is essential for health, energy, and wellbeing, but preparing meals can become challenging due to mobility issues, fatigue, memory concerns, or simply losing interest in cooking for one. Our support workers help you enjoy nutritious, tasty meals that suit your preferences, dietary needs, and cultural background-all in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Meal preparation support isn’t just about cooking. It’s about maintaining your independence, enjoying food you love, supporting your health, and sometimes, sharing companionship over meal preparation.
Why Meal Preparation Support Matters
Have questions?
Your local team of Client Care Managers are available to answer your questions and work with you to design a customized plan of care that is right for you.
Our Meal Preparation Services
Menu Planning:
Working with you to plan meals you’ll enjoy, considering dietary requirements and restrictions, planning weekly menus if helpful, balancing nutrition, variety, and your preferences, incorporating cultural and religious dietary needs.
Meal Preparation:
Preparing fresh meals in your kitchen, cooking meals to freeze for later, preparing ingredients for you to cook later, adapting recipes to your dietary needs, teaching cooking skills if desired, ensuring kitchen safety during preparation.
Shopping Assistance:
Can be combined with our shopping assistance service, planning shopping list based on meal plan, ensuring you have ingredients needed, checking food supplies and suggesting what’s needed.
Nutrition Support:
General guidance about balanced nutrition, helping implement dietary recommendations from doctor or dietitian, adapting meals for special diets, ensuring adequate protein, fruits, vegetables, supporting healthy eating habits.
Cooking Together:
Cooking alongside you if you enjoy it, supporting you to remain involved in meal prep, teaching cooking techniques, making meal preparation social and enjoyable, adapting tasks to your abilities.
Food Safety:
Ensuring proper food handling and hygiene, checking food expiry dates, storing food safely, maintaining clean cooking environment, preventing foodborne illness.
Types of Meal Support We Provide
Supporting Special Dietary Needs
Diet and Lifestyle with Diabetes
While we’re nurses, not dietitians, we provide general guidance:
Healthy Eating:
Understanding how carbohydrates affect blood glucose, eating regular meals, choosing whole grains, vegetables, lean protein, limiting sugary foods and drinks, portion awareness.
Physical Activity:
Understanding how exercise lowers blood glucose, starting with achievable activity, checking glucose before/after exercise, preventing exercise-related hypos.
Weight Management:
If weight loss would help glucose control, supporting healthy approaches, connecting you with dietitian if needed.
Stress Management:
Understanding stress can raise blood glucose, strategies for managing stress, recognizing when additional support needed.
Sleep:
Understanding importance of good sleep for glucose control, identifying sleep problems, strategies for better sleep.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Gratifying Care is proud to committed to offer the best possible answers to all your questions. We have compiled a list of few questions that have been repeatedly asked to us.
Can I choose what meals are prepared?
Absolutely! This is your home and your food. We work together to plan meals you’ll enjoy that meet any dietary requirements. Your preferences guide everything.
What if I have a very restricted diet?
We can accommodate most dietary restrictions (diabetic, renal, low sodium, texture modified, allergen-free, etc.). We follow recommendations from your doctor or dietitian. For very complex dietary management, we may suggest working with a dietitian alongside our meal support.
Do you bring ingredients or use mine?
Typically, we use ingredients from your kitchen. This can be combined with our shopping assistance service to ensure you have what’s needed. Occasionally, for specific cultural ingredients, we might source these with your approval.
Can you teach me to cook?
Yes, if you’d like to learn or relearn cooking skills. We can teach techniques, work alongside you, provide encouragement, and build your confidence in the kitchen.
What if I don’t like a meal you’ve prepared?
Please tell us! Food preferences are personal. We want you to enjoy your meals. We’ll learn what you do and don’t like and adjust accordingly. No hurt feelings-just honest feedback helps us serve you better.
Can you prepare meals for my spouse too?
Yes, we can prepare meals for you and your spouse/partner living with you. This is common and efficient.
What if I want traditional foods from my culture?
We respect and support cultural food traditions. We can learn your traditional recipes, source appropriate ingredients, and prepare foods meaningful to your cultural background. Many of our staff have diverse cultural backgrounds themselves.
Do you clean the kitchen afterwards?
Yes. We clean as we work and ensure the kitchen is clean before we leave-dishes washed, surfaces wiped, everything tidy.
Can you prepare meals to freeze?
Yes, batch cooking is very popular. We can prepare multiple portions, freeze them with proper labeling and dates, and ensure you have varied meals ready when needed.
How much does meal preparation support cost?
Costs depend on your funding. Support at Home Program: Covered by government funding. Home Care Packages: Included in package budget. NDIS: Covered if approved in plan. DVA: Covered for eligible veterans. Private: Charged by hour. Contact us to discuss costs.
Medical Disclaimer
The information on this page is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Our Disability Support Services are delivered by qualified Disability Support Workers / Community Support Workers / Support Workers / Community Workers. They work within their scope of practice and in coordination with your doctor and healthcare team. Always consult your GP or specialist about your specific health needs and treatment. Our services complement but do not replace medical care from your doctor.