Malnutrition in seniors is a lot more common than people think. If your senior parent is living alone they may not be eating as much as they should. If no one is there to make sure that they eat or help them cook your senior parent may be surviving on snacks or not eating at all. Or, they could be eating processed meals that don’t have a lot of nutrients instead of eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
Senior home care can help. If your senior parent has regular visits from a senior home care provider, they will have someone in the home to help them with cooking, help with shopping for healthy food, and someone to share meals with. Senior home care can help fix many of the problems that make seniors not want to eat like:
Not Being Able To Cook
As seniors get older, they start losing some of their fine motor skills and the dexterity in their fingers. If your senior parent arthritis their joints may be so swollen and painful that they can’t do things like fill a pot with water, lift a saucepan off the stove, or cut vegetables or meat. A senior home care provider can help with the preparation of healthy meals so that your senior parent can enjoy delicious healthy meals made with fresh ingredients.
Not Being Able To Shop
Shopping is exhausting. For seniors, shopping can be extremely difficult. Pushing a heavy cart filled with heavy items around a large store, bending and reaching to get items from shelves, put them in the cart, then take them out of the cart and put them on the check out belt can be too much for seniors. Some seniors also may get confused when handling money or trying to stick to a budget.
Seniors who have senior home care can stay home and let their senior home care provider do the shopping for them. Or, if they want to go to the store, a home care provider can do the heavy lifting so that your senior parent can just walk around the store and get some exercise.
Medication Side Effects
Most seniors take more than one medication. The side effects of common medications that seniors take can cause loss of appetite, dry mouth, heartburn, and other conditions that make eating difficult or unappealing. A home care provider can cook your senior parent’s favorite meals and tempt them to eat even if they don’t feel like eating because of the side effects they’re experiencing.
Being Lonely
Seniors who are living alone often don’t eat enough because they are lonely and don’t like eating alone. They may feel like there’s no point in cooking a meal just for themselves. But, with seniors home care, seniors will have a friend in the home with them who can share meals with them. Talking and laughing over a healthy meal filled with nutritious vegetables, lean proteins, and a healthy dessert will boost your senior parent’s appetite and give them a reason to enjoy meals again.
Sources:
https://www.agingresearch.org/our-initiatives/malnutrition-in-older-adults/
https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/what-to-know-about-malnutrition-in-older-adults
