Sometimes seniors that are aging in place don’t eat enough. Which raises their risk of being malnourished and developing health problems. There are lots of reasons why your senior parent may not be eating, and it could even be that their medication is taking away their appetite. Or, if they have anxiety or depression, their mental health could be impacting their physical health and making them not want to eat. Seniors often don’t want to eat alone, so they don’t make meals for themselves. If you or your loved one's elder care providers notice that your senior parent isn’t eating enough, you should take immediate action before they become malnourished.
Get Elder Care
If part of the reason why your senior parent doesn’t want to eat is because they don’t like eating alone or cooking, elder care can help. Maybe it's because they have trouble lifting pots and pans or cleaning and preparing vegetables. No matter the reasons, seniors that have elder care will have a dedicated home care provider who will help your senior loved one prepare meals, make mealtimes lively and fun, and help seniors clean up after the meal. With elder care seniors will have mealtime companions that will encourage them to eat and enjoy their meals.
Add Extra Calories And Nutrients To Meals
If your senior parent will eat but they’re not just eating enough calories to sustain themselves you or an elder care provider can sneak extra calories into their meals to help make up the difference between the amount of calories they’re actually eating and the amount they should eat. That can look like adding extra dressing to their salads, slipping ice cream or yogurt into their smoothies, using whole milk for cereal or cooking, and tempting them with snacks like guacamole and hummus which have healthy fats and protein in them.
Supplement With Protein Shakes And Smoothies
Protein shakes and fruit smoothies are fantastic snacks to give seniors that aren’t getting enough calories. If your senior parent wants snacks like chips give them whatever they will eat but try to get them to eat higher calorie snacks that are also nutritious like a protein shake with 30 grams of protein or a smoothie with yogurt mixed into it. You can also encourage them to try new snacks that will increase the amount of calories they are eating each day.
Get A Meal Delivery Service
Another way you can boost your senior parent’s appetite is to get meals from a meal delivery service. A home care provider or elder care provider can help your senior parent make these meals. Typically your senior parent can choose the meals they want each week from a selection online and then those meals will be delivered early in the week. Your senior parent can pick meals that they love but don’t like to cook like shepherd’s pie, pasta with meatballs, and other specialties that your senior parent may not want the hassle of cooking.