Good nutritional care in Care Homes is not achieved through policies alone. It grows through everyday interactions, thoughtful observation, and a culture where food and hydration are recognised as an important part of comfort, dignity and overall well-being, rather than simply another task in the day.
Across the care sector, there is increasing recognition of the positive role Nutrition Champions can play in improving mealtime experiences, supporting staff confidence, and strengthening person-centred care within Homes. Emerging research exploring nutrition and mealtime support in Care Home settings continues to highlight the value of leadership roles that encourage awareness, promote good practice, and help keep residents’ nutritional well-being at the heart of daily life.
At Nellsar Care Homes, our Nutrition Champion approach has developed as part of our wider commitment to creating meaningful dining experiences and supporting quality of life for the residents living in our Homes.
What is a Nutrition Champion?
A Nutrition Champion is a member of the Care Home team who has an additional focus on nutrition, hydration, and mealtime well-being within their Home.
Importantly, the role does not replace clinical professionals or catering teams. Instead, Nutrition Champions help bridge the gap between policy and everyday practice. They act as advocates for residents’ nutritional well-being while helping to keep food, hydration, dignity and mealtime enjoyment visible within the wider culture of the Home.
Nutrition Champions can come from many different roles, including care, hospitality, well-being or kitchen teams. What matters most is their passion for improving residents’ experiences and encouraging good practice among colleagues.
“The Nutrition Champion role is perfect for anyone who loves seeing people enjoy their food and drink. I work with team members and residents to learn likes and dislikes and link them into meals. We have a wide variety of people living at our Home and I try to make sure there is something for everyone. I can make personalised menus when needed, and as a whole Home we have worked on improving what we offer throughout the day and night, including tea trolley snacks and treats. We always love feedback from residents and families on how we can continue to improve. My background is Carer, Senior Carer and Cook (all at Lulworth) and in my Nutrition Champion role I am involved in a number of areas including developing person-centred nutrition care plans and monitoring residents’ weights. This is my favourite role I’ve ever had within the Home because it allows me to spend meaningful time with our residents.”
Katja, Nutrition Lead at Lulworth House Care Home
Within Care Homes, the demands of daily life can sometimes make it difficult to focus consistently on the smaller details that can make such a meaningful difference to nutrition and hydration. Having dedicated Champions helps keep these important priorities visible.
Why nutrition matters beyond physical health
Food in Care Homes is about far more than calories and nutrients alone.
Mealtimes are often some of the most important moments in the day, bringing comfort, familiarity, conversation and connection for our residents. Favourite meals, social interaction, choice, and a welcoming dining environment can all contribute greatly to emotional well-being and quality of life.
Experience across Care Homes continues to show how much factors such as atmosphere, communication, staffing pressures, dining environments and organisational culture can influence residents’ enjoyment of food and drink.
This means that supporting good nutrition requires more than thoughtful menu planning alone. It involves engagement across the whole Home.
Nutrition Champions help support this by encouraging conversations around residents’ preferences, identifying concerns early, promoting person-centred approaches, and helping maintain awareness across teams.
Supporting a person-centred approach
No two residents are the same, and nutritional care should always reflect this individuality.
A person-centred approach means recognising personal preferences, routines, cultural backgrounds, appetites, abilities and lifelong relationships with food. It also means understanding that what works well for one resident may not necessarily work for another.
Nutrition Champions can help reinforce this approach by encouraging teams to think beyond standard processes. This may include:
- Supporting residents’ meal preferences and choices
- Encouraging flexible approaches to dining
- Highlighting hydration needs
- Promoting dignified support at mealtimes
- Supporting communication between care and catering teams
- Encouraging meaningful resident feedback
- Helping identify when additional support may be needed
Within Care Homes, it’s often the smallest adjustments that make the greatest difference. A quieter dining space, a favourite snack, extra encouragement, or adapting how meals are presented can all positively influence nutritional intake and overall mealtime experience.
Building confidence across teams
One of the strongest themes emerging from Care Home research is the importance of staff confidence, knowledge and engagement in supporting successful nutritional care.
Nutrition Champions help create ongoing awareness by acting as positive role models and encouraging reflective practice among colleagues.
At Nellsar, our approach to nutrition and hydration is supported through education, practical guidance and ongoing conversations across teams. We recognise that confidence grows through continuous learning and shared experiences, rather than one-off training sessions alone.
Our Homes are guided by the evidence-based resource The Care Home Digest, which we have adapted to support the individual needs of Nellsar Homes while recognising that every Home, resident group and team dynamic is unique.
This balance is important. Good nutritional care cannot rely on rigid systems alone. Homes need evidence-based guidance, but they also need flexibility, compassion and a genuine understanding of the people living within them.
Creating a positive mealtime culture
Mealtime culture plays an important role in residents’ daily experiences.
A calm, welcoming and sociable dining environment can encourage nutritional intake and improve enjoyment of food. In contrast, rushed or task-focused mealtimes can negatively affect appetite and overall well-being.
Nutrition Champions help maintain focus on the overall dining experience, not simply the meal itself. This includes considering atmosphere, communication, presentation, timing, resident involvement and dignity.
“I’ve noticed real positive changes since we introduced protected mealtimes. Creating a calm and welcoming dining environment, with tables fully laid and fewer distractions during meals, has helped improve residents’ dining experience, appetite and overall engagement at mealtimes. I still work as a Dining Assistant some days, which gives me valuable insight and helps me identify residents who may need additional support. I also work closely with our catering team, who are always very helpful in providing anything needed to support residents with their individual nutritional needs.”
Sharon, Nutrition Champion at Hengist Field Care Home
Within Care Homes, food often becomes one of the strongest connections between residents, families, visitors and teams. It remains one of the clearest reflections of care quality and hospitality within the Home.
For this reason, nutritional well-being should never sit solely within one department. It works best when it becomes part of the culture shared across the whole Home.
Bringing nutrition, care and well-being together
As Care Homes continue to evolve towards increasingly hospitality-led and person-centred models of care, Nutrition Champions are becoming an increasingly valuable part of supporting positive change.
While every Home may approach the role slightly differently, the underlying principle remains the same: keeping residents’ well-being at the centre of nutritional care.
At Nellsar, we believe good food and meaningful mealtimes should support not only health, but also comfort, dignity, enjoyment and connection. Our Nutrition Champions help bring those values into everyday life across our Homes.
Source
The Care Home Digest
