Which nutritional source should I choose?

Keep CIQUAL (ANSES, France), the default: its database of foods is already loaded, so you can use it right away. Another source must be imported before you switch to it.

What is the intake deficit alert threshold for?

WideCare compares the 3-day average intake against the resident’s needs (energy and protein). When that intake covers less than the configured threshold (75% by default), a deficit alert is created. Lower the threshold to be alerted later, raise it to be alerted sooner.

Are the ESPEN targets the same for every resident?

No. The coefficients (30 kcal/kg, 1 g/kg of protein, 1.6 l for women and 2.0 l for men) are facility-wide settings. WideCare then calculates each resident’s own target from their weight and sex. The energy band rises to 35 kcal/kg for an underweight resident (BMI less than or equal to 21).

Why do meal notifications to families have no effect?

Sending emails requires an outgoing mail server configured in Odoo. Without one, enabling the option sends nothing. First configure the outgoing server, then enable the global notification and the per-resident opt-in.

Where are these settings located?

In Settings → Meals. The tab groups four blocks: Nutrition, Public Menu & Kiosk, Family Notifications, and Nutritional Targets (ESPEN).

Meal and nutrition settings¶

The Meals settings tab brings together the configuration of the Meals app: the nutritional data source, the appearance of the public menu and the kiosk, the family notifications, and the nutritional targets (ESPEN) used for undernutrition monitoring. You will find it under Settings → Meals.

These settings apply to the whole facility: you define them once, after which they rarely need adjusting.

Nutrition¶

This section indicates which reference database WideCare queries to retrieve the nutritional values of ingredients (calories, protein, etc.).

Setting	What it does	Recommended value
Nutrition Data Source	Reference database of nutritional values. CIQUAL (ANSES - France) is already loaded.	CIQUAL (default, already loaded)

CIQUAL is enough to get started

The CIQUAL database is preloaded: you can build your menus and track nutrition without any preparation.

In Belgium

A second choice, NUBEL (Belgium), uses the Belgian food composition references. It must be imported before you switch to it.

These settings customise the appearance of the daily menu, weekly menu, and kiosk pages (see Family portal and public menu).

Setting	What it does	Recommended value
Public Menu Color	Main colour of the menu and kiosk pages.	Your brand colour (default blue)
Show Company Logo	Displays the company logo at the top of the public menu pages.	On
Kiosk Refresh (seconds)	Automatic refresh interval of the kiosk page shown in the dining room.	600 s (10 min)

Values specific to your facility

The colour and the logo are specific to your facility: use your visual identity. The kiosk refresh is only useful if a screen displays the kiosk page continuously.

Family Notifications¶

This block enables the automatic sending of emails to families who have accepted it: a weekly summary of meals and a low-intake alert.

Setting	What it does	Recommended value
Family Meal Notifications	Sends opted-in families a weekly summary and a low-intake alert. Requires an outgoing mail server.	Enabled if an outgoing mail server is configured, otherwise disabled

An outgoing mail server is required

Without an outgoing mail server configured in Odoo, enabling the option sends nothing. Sending also depends on a per-resident opt-in: only families who have accepted receive the emails. Configure the outgoing server, enable the global notification, then the opt-in resident by resident.

Nutritional Targets (ESPEN)¶

These coefficients, drawn from the ESPEN geriatric guidelines, are used to calculate each resident’s own target (from their weight and sex) and to trigger the deficit alerts.

Setting	Field	What it does	Recommended value
Energy target	Energy (kcal/kg/day)	Energy target per kilo of body weight.	30
	Energy if underweight (kcal/kg/day)	Raised target for an undernourished resident (BMI less than or equal to 21); ESPEN suggests 32 to 38.	35
Protein target	Protein (g/kg/day)	Protein target per kilo of body weight (at least 1; 1.2 to 1.5 in case of illness).	1
Fluid targets	Fluids — women (ml/day)	Daily hydration target for women.	1600
	Fluids — men (ml/day)	Daily hydration target for men.	2000
Intake deficit alert	Intake Deficit Alert (% coverage)	Threshold below which an alert is created when the 3-day average intake does not cover enough of the energy or protein target.	75

A target calculated per resident

Here you set the coefficients; WideCare derives each resident’s individual target from their weight and sex, then compares the actual intake against those targets. Coverage monitoring and undernutrition screening are described in Nutritional monitoring and undernutrition.

Meal and nutrition settings¶

Nutrition¶

Public Menu & Kiosk¶

Family Notifications¶

Nutritional Targets (ESPEN)¶

Further reading¶