Home Care Sharon MA
Making sure that your aging parent gets the nutrition that they need on a daily basis is an essential part of being an effective caregiver. You know that what they eat makes a tremendous impact on their health and wellbeing, and that if you support a lifetime of healthy eating you improve the chances that your aging parent will be able to enjoy a healthy, active, and fulfilling lifestyle as they age in place.
As important as proper nutrition is, many seniors cope with difficulties getting what they need on a regular basis. There are many reasons why elderly adults may struggle to get proper nutrition, including difficulty swallowing, difficulty chewing, challenges cooking proper meals for themselves, and loss of motivation when it comes to eating. With the help of a home care provider, your parent can overcome their personal challenges and enjoy a more active, engaged, and independent lifestyle.
Mealtime companionship from a senior home care services provider can be a valuable service for your elderly loved one for a variety of reasons, including:
- Meal planning. Companionship is not just about the care provider spending time with your elderly loved one while they eat. It can also include spending time with your parent while they plan and prepare meals together. This companionship gives your loved one an emotional boost while also helping to ensure that they eat a healthy, balanced diet.
- Increased motivation to eat. Older adults who are lonely and isolated tend to lose their motivation to eat. A large part of the enjoyment of eating is the social aspect, and when eating is no longer fun many people will simply stop doing it, or will choose quick snacks over sitting down to a full meal. This care provider can be there with your parent to ease loneliness and isolation, enjoy conversations and sharing, and increase your parent’s motivation to eat regularly.
- Safety. If your parent has difficulty chewing or swallowing, they could be at risk of choking while they are eating. With the home care provider present your loved one will be safer. This care provider can modify meals to the textures and sizes that are appropriate for your loved one and also look for indications that they are struggling to eat safely.
- Modifications. Many seniors with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other conditions struggle to eat because of tremors or other physical challenges that make the actual process of eating difficult. They may not have the strength or range of motion to hold onto the utensils and lift them. They may have tremors that make it harder for them to get the utensil into their mouths or cause them to knock over cups and bowls. A care provider can identify these issues and bring them to your attention, enabling you to find adaptive devices that will make eating easier for them. This can include weighted utensils that counteract the impact of tremors, bowls and plates with suction bottoms to make them stay in place on the table so that your parent does not have to “chase” them around, or cups with no-spill tops and straws.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Care Services in Sharon MA, or anywhere in Eastern Massachusetts, please call the caring staff at CARE Resolutions – (508) 906-5572.
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