How Can You Encourage Your Senior to Eat?

By Andy Niska | March 1, 2018 |

If your elderly family member isn’t eating as well or as often as you’d like, it’s possible that her health is suffering a bit. The food she eats is the fuel that her body relies on in order to keep her healthy, so getting your elderly family member to eat when she needs to do so is extremely important.

Senior Care in Liberty Lake WA: Encouraging Your Senior to Eat

Make the Table Inviting.

Everyone enjoys eating a little bit more when the table is inviting and the same is true for your elderly family member. Take a look at her dishes and silverware to see if there are changes you can make that would make them easier to use or simply more attractive. Some of the smallest changes can make the biggest difference.

Ensure that She’s not Eating Alone.

If your elderly family member doesn’t enjoy eating alone, do what you can to help ensure that she doesn’t have to eat alone often. Other family members may be able to stop in when you aren’t available. Another option is to hire senior care providers who can drop by to help with a variety of tasks while they offer companionship.

Look at Her Activity Levels.

The less physically active your senior is, the less likely she is going to be to feel much in the way of hunger. If her doctor has cleared her for exercise, take a look at how you can help her to be more physically active. With a little more exercise every day, her appetite can increase gradually.

Involve Her in Meal Planning.

When your elderly family member doesn’t feel as if she has much of a say in what she eats or when she eats it, she’s not likely to feel all that excited about eating. Make sure that you’re keeping her involved in meal planning so that she knows that she has choices in the matter.

Help Her with Meal Preparation.

Meal preparation for just one person can feel surprisingly overwhelming. You might think it would be the opposite, but this can also tie into not enjoying eating alone. Find ways to help your elderly family member with meal preparation, whether that involves cooking together or helping her to heat up meals that you’ve cooked and frozen for her already.

When you notice your senior’s habits around eating changing, take the time to talk with her about the situation. She may be able to give you some clues about what else is happening.

If you or an aging loved one are considering senior care in Liberty Lake, WA, please contact the friendly staff at Love at Home Senior Care, today. Call (509) 204-4088

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Andy Niska

Owner at Love In Home Senior Care

Andy has over 20+ years experience in the medical community and has a true compassion for seniors. With a degree in Health Care Administration, he developed a background in a variety of health care services that only comes from first hand experience. While working as a manager of a large clinic and as an account executive for medical suppliers. Andy has built valuable relationships with the medical community.

His role in Love In Home Senior Care is to educate people on what care choice is the best fit for the senior and their family while attempting to make this decision as stress-free as possible for everyone involved.

This decision making process should be smooth and stress free for everyone, including all family members and their loved ones. Having access to people with experience (like the team at Love In Home Senior Care) to assist you along the way can help this process. With an extensive background in health care, Andy has the experience needed to guide and direct your loved one to the choice that is the best fit.