Expanding eMenuCHOICE Beyond the Dining Room

As senior communities continue to reshape dining in response to external factors, many are also developing new services to meet resident needs, using eMenuCHOICE to both deliver and track these new offerings. 

1. Mobile Delivery Cart

A large Minnesota community is placing items from the deli and convenience store on a cart and rolling it through the community offering sodas, candy bars and ice cream treats for immediate purchase. Other communities have developed morning "coffee carts" going room to room to offer coffee, tea, donuts and other pastries for breakfast or a morning snack.

Communities are finding mobile cart services provide a great way to bring the convenience store to residents, all the while increasing the opportunity to socialize; residents report enjoying an opportunity to interact with staff or volunteers pushing the carts. 

2. Grocery Lists and Convenience Store Items

Communities can use eMenuCHOICE to offer residents a grocery/shopping list. Staff and volunteers (or residents themselves  as well as family members using Individual Order Access) can enter items, with staff and/or volunteers doing store runs and delivery. This service can work both for inside-the-community convenience stores -- items delivered to rooms -- or for short runs to local grocers or drugstores, depending on what the community chooses to offer. 

For trips to stores outside the community, this service benefits both residents and the community at large. It removes concerns about residents venturing outside the community, reduces the need for family members to do grocery runs and respects visitation and external trip / quarantine policies at communities. 

3. Spa, Salon and other Services 

Senior communities offering spa and salon services can use eMenuCHOICE to record, bill and collect for a hair cut or color, manicure, pedicure, acrylic nails or other salon services. 

Communities can also offer services such as transportation for shopping or medical appointments, yoga classes and even apartment cleaning, all ordered, billed and tracked using eMenuCHOICE.

Some communities are setting up specialized payment terminals (a mounted tablet computer) in stores or salons; others are simply using tablets that are not in use in dining rooms between meals. In all cases, moreover, all eMenuCHOICE-listed food, goods and services can be ordered by aides making rounds to resident rooms. Residents themselves or family members can also order using eMenuCHOICE through individual connected devices.

Payment for any goods and services is easy using eMenuCHOICE. Charges can be made to resident accounts, can be applied to declining balance funds or processed as credit card or cash payments. 

To expand eMenuCHOICE beyond the dining room, communities simply add new venues in eMenuCHOICE (e.g., Spa or Convenience Store or Grocery List). For help setting up any of these venues or introducing other uses of eMenuCHOICE throughout your community, please contact us at any time.