Meet Chef Cynthia Vaughn. She works in the kitchen of a Lifespace Continued Care Retirement Community in Texas and has one seriously gifted skill set. Some residents within retirement communities require a Dysphagia diet, which requires food to be pureed to a specific texture for safe consumption. And in retirement and senior living communities, everyone usually eats together in a restaurant-style dining area.
It was this restaurant-style dining that got Chef Cynthia started on her mission of creating pureed sculptures for residents on Dysphagia diets. She had heard of a friend’s father who was put on a Dysphagia diet. He was embarrassed to eat with his friends in the dining hall because his food didn’t look as appetizing as everyone else’s. After all, he was receiving pureed food scooped into dishes, while his friends had a “normal” plate of their favorite meal. So, this resident started eating alone in his room. He had very little appetite, started losing weight, and was unhappy, which caused staff and family concern.
When she saw this situation, Chef Cynthia knew just what to do. She started with the REAL food that was going to be served that day, pureed it to Dysphagia standards, and then started shaping the food to look like the real thing. For example, chicken was shaped back into the form of a chicken leg, waffles were blended up then shaped into the classic square and drizzled with syrup and cinnamon. And so it went for every menu item — beef stew, donuts, veggies, you name it — anything offered on the menu was fair game. She got creative and used molds, and also shaped the dishes by hand, whatever it took to make the pureed items look just as good as the dish offered to regular diets. Chef Cynthia turned her pureed food into a type of sculpture that was hot and flavorful for each resident on a Dysphagia diet.
Chef Cynthia also makes sure she maintains the nutritional integrity of everyone’s meals by using REAL food: the chicken is real, freshly cooked chicken that is blended up with spices; the veggies are just vegetables that have been pureed, seasoned, and lovingly reshaped for every meal and any resident who needs it.
Within time, Chef Cynthia noticed her friend’s father was eating in the dining room with his friends again. He was happier and putting on the weight he had lost. Chef Cynthia knew she was doing the right thing and has worked tirelessly to perfect her craft. Oftentimes, residents can’t tell that the Dysphagia plates are any different than the plates for a regular diet, which means eating can be a social time for everyone to look forward to.
This is just one of many incredible stories we hear at our cafes. Kudos to Chef Cynthia for going above and beyond to help her residents dine with dignity and enjoy their meals with friends. To hear the touching senior living story directly from Chef Cynthia, watch the video below.
