March 17, 2022
National Nutrition Month occurs every March and it brings with it an opportunity for you and you’re senior to look more closely at how she’s eating and whether that way of eating is meeting her needs on a nutritional level. Nutrition is easy to forget about in the hubbub of daily life, so it helps to have that reminder for you and your home care provider to step back and assess what your senior needs and how to meet those needs most effectively.
Nutrition is complex, and your senior’s existing health conditions might just dictate that she takes a specific approach to her nutritional needs. Take some time and talk with your elderly family member’s doctor about what she needs and how you can ensure that she’s getting the nutrition that she requires. Sometimes older adults do need additional supplements to get nutrients, and that may be an option your elderly family member needs to consider.
The key to nutrition isn’t just eating healthy foods. It’s eating healthy foods that your elderly family member truly enjoys. Choking down foods that she hates isn’t going to be as beneficial for your senior as it would be to get that same nutrition in other ways that are more enjoyable. Talk with her about what her medical needs are for nutrition and work out how you can put meals together that tick all the boxes.
There might be some ways that you can introduce your senior to new foods or to new combinations of old favorites that are also nutritious. Offering a variety of different foods is important, but that can become difficult if you have other responsibilities you need to tend to on a regular basis. Using meal plans, home care providers can ensure that your senior is eating when she should and that those meals are full of nutrients. Sometimes it isn’t that the food and the nutrients aren’t there, but that your senior needs help making it happen.
There could be some other obstacles, too. If fatigue is keeping your elderly family member from eating healthier, then it’s important to work around that issue. This is another way that elder care providers can help. Home care providers have experience helping families ensure that aging family members are getting their needs met on a continuous basis. Whether your senior needs companionship or hands-on help with specific tasks, caregivers can be there for her as much as she needs them to be.
Getting better nutrition may not be something that your senior can literally do overnight, but it’s something that you and she can work towards. Finding the right combination of healthy, tasty foods that meets her needs can take some time, so don’t worry if it seems like the process is lasting longer than you expected it would.
If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in Oakland, PA, please contact the caring staff at In-Home Quality Care today. Serving the Greater Pittsburgh Area since 1990! Call 412-421-5202
