Malnutrition is something that the families of seniors need to be concerned about. Recent studies say that as many as 50% of seniors are malnourished. Seniors who have dementia are more likely to be malnourished because they often forget to eat, or can’t recognize their body’s hunger cues and don’t eat.

If your senior loved one needs to eat more and has dementia there are some things that you can do to encourage them to eat more. If your senior loved one has a senior home care provider be sure to go over these tips with them and ask if they have any suggestions that might help too. Senior care providers can be a valuable source of information and ideas when it comes to caring for a senior loved one with dementia.

Prepare Finger Foods

Sometimes seniors with dementia don’t want to eat because when they sit down at the table with a plate and utensils they aren’t sure what the utensils are or how to use them. But they don’t want to ask for help because they don’t want to tell you that they don’t know what the utensils are or how to use them. If you have prepared finger foods then they don’t need utensils and can just take the food which could seem less intimidating or threatening. Chicken nuggets, small cubes of cheese, individually sectioned fruits like oranges, and foods like crackers are all things that you might want to try to get your senior loved one with dementia to eat.

Focus On Getting Them To Eat Little Bits Here And There

Another tactic you can use to encourage your senior parent with dementia to eat is to ask for their opinion on a bite of food. Do this multiple times throughout the day and those bites will really add up to some solid nutrition. For example, while you are cooking you could ask for your senior loved one to give you an opinion on the chicken to see if it’s done enough and get them to eat a few bites of chicken. Later on you could say that you are trying a new kind of cheese and ask if they think it tastes like cheddar and get them to try a few bites of cheese. Small bites throughout the day and snacks are a good way to make sure that your senior parent with dementia is eating regularly.

Put Less Food On The Plate

You can also try putting just a tiny bit of food on a plate and encouraging them to eat it. A few peas, a couple of French fries, or a quarter of a piece of toast cut up into small squares might not seem like much. But when your senior loved one cleans their plate they will feel a sense of accomplishment and success that will make them more likely to continue to eat. You can always add more food to the plate if they will eat it, and if they won’t then at least they have had some food.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Senior Home Care in Burbank, CA please contact the caring staff at Nu Care Inc. today at. 800-505-6890

Source:

https://acl.gov/news-and-events/acl-blog/combatting-senior-malnutrition