Complaint Investigation Report

Interviews with staff revealed that during mealtimes, residents have the option of eating in the dining room, eating in their room, or refusing meals. Staff 1 (S1) and Staff 4 (S4) stated that residents who choose to eat in their room are not given food at the same time as residents in the dining hall, nor do they receive help from caregivers until the residents in the dining hall who require assistance are done eating. This can delay mealtimes for R1 who requests food in their room and require staff to assist with feeding. S4 stated that with regards to R1, they will check on them in their room during mealtimes, ask if they would like to eat with everyone in the dining room, and if not, they will offer a meal supplement/snack before R1’s dinner to help with the wait until they can finish assisting with dining room residents. Staff consistently stated that R1 will refuse meals and instead eat a meal supplement provided by their family. S4 told the LPA they believed it was possible that R1’s weight loss could be the result of R1’s eating habits at the facility (“R1 will only eat a couple of bites of their meals”) or a PRN medication’s side effects R1 takes daily. Additionally, S4 will ask R1 if they would prefer help with finger foods or sandwiches and assist based on R1’s preference.

Interviews with residents revealed that there are times when food service is not prompt nor are staff present to assist if food is delivered to their room. R1 stated that staff are not consistent with bringing food on time and as a result R1 must rely on a supply of supplemental meals provided by their family to eat (this is not related to R1’s right to refuse meals which they will exercise on occasion). R1 told the LPA that there have been times when staff have delivered food to the room but will not stay to help feed them. This corroborates staff interviews.

Interviews with outside sources revealed that Outside Source 2 (OS2) and Outside Source 3 (OS3) have observed R1’s experiences with the facility’s meal management. OS2 stated that they have called the facility in the past on an almost daily basis to check and confirm that R1 is fed at the beginning of mealtimes. OS2 and OS3 confirmed separately that there have been times they were with R1 at the facility and care staff did not provide notification or check on R1 for meal services. During those visits, OS2 has telephoned the staff from R1’s room asking if R1 was fed and reported that staff stated, “R1 refused food today.” OS3 told the LPA they were concerned about R1’s weight loss of 40 pounds during their time at the facility as a result of meal service inconsistencies.