Meals are such an important part of our lives. Not only do they provide the sustenance we need to stay in good health and remain strong, but they are also a vital connection time for many. Meals can be the one time during the day when families sit together and enjoy conversation. Helping your elderly loved one with Alzheimer’s disease participate in mealtime is integral to Alzheimer’s home care and her overall health.
Why Meals are Important for Alzheimer’s Home Care
For many Alzheimer’s patients, meals can be the cornerstone of their day. With regular meals, they are more likely to be able to stay in the present and follow their daily routines. Meals provide that sense of normalcy in a world that may otherwise be confusing and stressful for them.
Like everyone, they receive not only needed calories and nutrients from their meals but comfort and connection as well.
Six Tips for Making Meals Easier
Every Alzheimer’s patient is different, so have patience with yourself and your loved one as you strive to find ways to make mealtime a pleasant and successful time together.
Also, remember to be flexible. Alzheimer’s home care professionals understand that what worked yesterday for your loved one may not work next week. Each day can feel like being back at square one, trying to determine the best course of action.
- Join the meal: One of the best tips for helping your loved one participate and enjoy her meal is having someone join her while she eats. No one likes sitting at a table alone while eating. Even if you have already eaten, take the time to sit with your loved one and provide her with some company.
- Serve one thing at a time: Overflowing plates can confuse some people with Alzheimer’s disease. Your loved one might do better if you simply introduce one food at a time.
- Use utensils that work for her: Soup spoons often work best as they can easily scoop up food, even if it’s peas or corn. A weighted silicone spoon may be easier for her to grip.
- Make her favorite food and make it again: So long as her favorite food isn’t chocolate milkshakes, there’s no reason why she can’t have it multiple times a week. If she is struggling with eating enough calories, familiar foods may increase how much she’ll eat.
- Use finger foods: She might do better with foods she can pick up, like sandwiches or chicken strips.
- Include her in the process: Invite your loved one to the kitchen while you prepare the meal. Talk about what you’re preparing, reminding her why/how she likes it. This may help her get excited about eating her meal when it’s served to her.
Alzheimer’s Home Care Providers Can Work With You and Your Loved One
If mealtime is especially stressful, remember you don’t have to go alone. Having a trained Alzheimer’s home care provider come to the home to help with meals can be a great way for you and your loved one to learn new tips to make mealtime easier.
An Alzheimer’s home care provider will work directly with you and your loved one and help you develop a customized meal plan that will have everyone enjoying their meals together more.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Alzheimer’s Home Care in UTC, CA, please contact the caring staff at Aaron Home Care. (619) 880-5522
A Trusted Home Care Agency Serving La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, San Diego, UTC, La Mesa, Chula Vista, Coronado, Bonita, Eastlake, and the surrounding areas.
In 1999, Aaron was named Residential Program Manager of a group home for disabled adults in Arlington, Virgina. Here, he built a reputation for being compassionate with his clients and efficient in company operations. In the years that followed, Washington DC’s human services field went through unprecedented reform when the city was fined $11 million for the previously unchecked abuse, neglect, and exploitation of the very population it was supposed to protect. In 2005, Aaron was selected by a watchdog company to co-create and implement a monitoring system to safeguard and advocate for the system’s most vulnerable residents. This system is still in use today.
Aaron is now using his unique gifts and profound experience in the human service field to provide San Diego County Seniors with dependable, compassionate caregivers through Aaron Home Care.
He currently serves on the board of the San Diego Regional Home Care Council and is an active member of the Senior Advocate Network of San Diego.
Aaron Home Care is a member of the American Board of Home Care and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
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