National Care Group, a leading provider of adult social care, has developed an innovative way to encourage engagement and independence in the people it supports by creating its very own cooking course.
Dan Burgess, a registered manager at Endurance Care in Kent, a National Care Group supported living service, created the course in his own time to ensure those supported at the service learn an essential life skill that also contributes to their long-term progression.
The programme provides important guidance on health and safety in the kitchen, as well as teaching simple recipes that follow a healthy diet and provide essential nutrition.
Dan said: “This course encourages those we support to learn something new and really have confidence that they can safely and competently cook their own delicious and nutritious meals.
“I’m really proud of what the people we support have achieved, with all six having now completed level one of the course in full, while continuing to practice their skills. We now hold regular themed dinners, with all meals made from scratch by our budding new masterchefs.”
Recipes are in an easy-to-read format with level one dishes ranging from a quick scrambled eggs to more challenging dishes such as chili con carne and quiche lorraine. To pass level one, residents must create at least seven of the suggested recipes, with higher skill levels currently being created to extend the future learning opportunities.
Karen Lewis, chief operating officer at National Care Group said: “The work that Dan and his team have been doing at Endurance Care really embodies our ultimate goal as a social care provider; to support people in gaining confidence and independence to live as full and happy lives as possible.
“Time and investment into key life skills such as cooking is pivotal to ensuring the people we support are empowered to achieve their full potential. We’re always developing our support tools to build on this project, we have launched a collaborative cookbook that includes recipes and training films by both our colleagues and the people we support.”
For more information on National Care Group and the services it provides, visit: https://nationalcaregroup.com/.
