EAST LONGMEADOW – For most of us, mealtime is a pleasant experience, and something we look forward to.

For individuals who have difficulty handling silverware due to injury or illness, or who may be suffering from cognitive issues, breakfast, lunch and dinner are often the most difficult times of the day.

Jeff Ross, food service director and executive chef at East Village Place, a Watermark Retirement Community, recently introduced an innovative solution to these mealtime problems for residents at the facility. Called “Thrive Dining,” this approach to food preparation and presentation transforms a traditionally plated meal into easy-to-handle, finger-style foods.

The public will have the opportunity to experience the “Thrive Dining” concept when Ross and East Village Place present a tasting to the Memory Café at East Longmeadow’s Pleasant Valley Senior Center on April 19 at 4:30 p.m.

Ross said the concept behind “Thrive Dining” is a simple one: make food appealing and accessible.

“Take breakfast; a traditional meal might be waffles eggs and sausage. You need a fork and knife for that,” Ross explained to the 10 individuals who attended a  “Thrive Dining” presentation and tasting at East Village on March 30. “’Thrive Dining’ changes [the plate’s components] into one or two-bite sized portions.”

Presented like hors d’oeuvres, usually with a dipping sauce, entrees such as the day’s samplings of sausage and egg triangles with hash brown bites, sage chicken roulades and Yankee pot roast turnovers are designed to be eaten by hand, eliminating the need to struggle with silverware or, in the case of some residents in the facility’s memory care unit, assistance with feeding.

Ross said he was one of the 38 Watermark food service directors who traveled to Delaware for training in this food preparation method, originally developed by chefs Stone Morris of Boston and Sarah Gorham of Atlanta. Called “Grind Dining” by its creators, the method involves using a dedicated machine to process cooked proteins, starches and vegetables, which are then combined to create portionable casserole –like dishes, placed into an edible envelope like a turnover, or hand-formed into meatball-like servings that are easy for diners to pick up and consume.

If a resident eats two or three of the bite-sized portions presented in this way, Ross said they’ve had an entire meal.

According to Ross, the “Thrive” preparation method not only preserves the flavors of the individual components of the recipe – something pureeing does not do – it also breaks down the connective fibers in the proteins, making the resultant dish easier to digest.

East Village Place introduced the “Thrive Dining” concept during breakfast in August, with lunch offerings added in September and dinner in October. Ross said the reaction from those residents targeted for the program overall, has been “very positive,” with resultant clinical improvements in nutrition and weight stabilization.