b'Insights & Best Practices forSenior DiningA conversation with Harris Ader, Founder & CEO, Senior Dining Association THE SENIOR DINING ASSOCIATION IS THE FIRSTdiets, but we serve the same people 365 days a year. professional organization focused entirely on dining forSometimes three meals a day, and sometimes one the senior housing industry. Our purpose is to connectmeal a day. We also host events with different typesand educate hospitality industry professionals withof experiences for the members and residents of the careers in senior housing. For more information, visitcommunity. Were more service-oriented now, and the seniordining.org food and presentation has evolved so much inrecent years.In my prior position I could not find the resources,best practices, industry trends or education that I Q: As youre interacting with your SDA members, was looking for related to senior dining. I was lucky what are you hearing thats keeping them up at and fortunate enough in my career to work for anight? What are their biggest concerns?foodservice contract company, and it was all about theOne person I spoke to about dining preferences and foodall about the dining. It had resources related toservices said the thing that keeps him up at night is what we were doing and development of what we werecreating new and innovative programs for the residents doing. And when I was in the self-op world, I could notin older communities. The thing to think about is how find those resources. I could not find best practices,to implement new programs with the current budget and I could not network the way I wanted to with myand labor hours. You know, how to be innovative while peers. Thats what made me start the SDA. staying within the budget or how to present innovation We are a mixture of someones home and a countrythat will have a cost impact to the CEO. Thats what club and a little bit of healthcare because of specifickeeps some people up at night. 16'