If you spend time in the dining room of my mother's NH it is no mystery who is identified as having Alzheimer's - all of them get their meals on red plates. As I've observed mom's table mates I've grown skeptical of this "innovation", it seems to me that it is the contrast between food and plate that is more important than the colour red and some of the newer research I've been reading backs me up. While fish and mashed potatoes might be more appealing on that red plate the breaded veal cutlet with tomato sauce just disappears, but as with everything in an institutional setting there is no room for common sense.
Usually the tables are set with plain white paper place mats but for the past week we have had place mats with seasonal pumpkins and coloured leaves. As I look around I've noticed more than one person trying to pick up those pictures with fingers or forks, obviously mistaking them for food on a plate. You would think that somebody would just replace them with the plain white ones but once again nobody can use common sense🙄.
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