Menu 4 - Paper 8

Menu, Journal of Food and Hospitality Research
Volume 4, 2015, Pages 43-54

Designing restaurant ambiences for retirement homes: a user-based approach


Laure SAULAIS 1, 2
Estelle PETIT 1
Linda BENATTAR 3


1 The Center for Food and Hospitality Research, Institut Paul Bocuse, Château du Vivier, BP 25, 69131 Ecully Cedex France
2 INRA, UMR 1215 GAEL, F-38000 Grenoble, France (associate researcher)
3 ORPEA, 1-3 rue Bellini, 92806 Puteaux, France.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.26048/cy9n-bc84

Abstract: This article presents the results of two studies investigating the ambience in the restaurant of retirement homes from the point-of-view of residents. In the first study, we developed a questionnaire to characterize the preferences for different ambience components of 52 residents in three French retirement homes. A second study assessed, through questionnaire and behavioural observation, the impact of three experimental ambiences on the meal pleasure, desire to eat and food intake of 56 residents. Although not the primary determinant of meal pleasure and desire to eat, the physical ambience and its components played a role for residents, and affected food intake, though marginally so. In particular, ambience components in the close environment (notably tableware) had a greater influence. This exploratory research suggests that user-based approaches can have added-value in the design of adapted foodservice and hospitality solutions for the elderly.

Keywords: Retirement homes, Ambience, Desire to eat, Meal pleasure, Restaurant; Elderly

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