It’s difficult enough to keep your own dietary needs on target sometimes, but when you’re a caregiver, you need to know whether your elderly family member is eating properly.
Track Her Food in a Tracker
There are so many different ways to track what your aging family member is eating each day. You can download apps that require only that you take a picture of the plate to provide a detailed analysis or you can enter foods in individually. By far the easiest type of food tracker can be a plain old spiral notebook. Simply write down everything that your aging adult eats during the day. The added benefit of this kind of tracker is that you can make notes about how she was feeling and anything else that is pertinent.
Work with a Dedicated Nutritionist
Nutrition can be complicated, especially for older adults. Consider working directly with a nutritionist to come up with an eating plan designed specifically for your elderly family member. The nutritionist can give you tons of recipes and ideas for helping your senior to eat just the right amount of food.
Go Over Her Food Diary with Her
It helps if you periodically review your senior’s food diary with her. You want to give her as many choices as you can and share information as you gather it. By doing this, you keep your senior involved in her own health, which can be incredibly motivating. Your elderly family member can also give you feedback about how she’s feeling now compared to how she felt when you first started tracking what she ate.
Talk with Your Senior’s Doctor
Once you have enough information, take it to your senior’s doctor. You can go over the data together and determine what needs to happen next. Your elderly family member’s doctor may recommend that you continue tracking after you make some changes, which can help you to see more clearly what the results of those changes are. The more information you have, the better.
Once you have a plan, you can work with elder care providers and other family members to prep meals and help your senior stay on target.
For elder care in Southern NJÂ and the surrounding areas, call and talk to us at Home to Stay Healthcare Solutions (856) 321-1500.