Even with the best of intentions and planning, seniors who are without companionship and assistance at home may jeopardize their own good health or recovery from an illness or surgery.
Research by University of Maryland nutrition expert Dr. Nadine Sahyoun revealed that 80 percent of hospital-discharged older adults recruited for the study who qualified for home-delivered meals had food in their kitchens, but they were unable to shop or utilize that food for cooking.
Cooking is an art, it’s been said, and dining both at home and out makes all the effort worthwhile, not only for seniors but their loved ones as well.
Make eating a happy event, Dr. Sahyoun said. We focus too much on what people can’t eat and don’t give enough attention to what food represents to us. Food is at the core of our lives–it’s the smell, color, feel, texture and social context. All of this is what makes a meal enjoyable. We have to pay attention to those things, she added.
To keep their daily menus interesting, and healthy, seniors will want to mix up their food choices—particularly within each food group—every day.
We know that we really are what we eat, said Elisabetta Politi, dietician director at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center. But each senior’s diet plan is individual, she noted. If Dad has reached age 75 and has not developed heart disease or cancer, you need not recommend any different food intervention than what he is already doing. Dad has found a meal plan that works.
Perhaps a senior’s dietary plan leaves room for improvement. Research shows that change is best done gradually. Encourage seniors to look at how they’re doing and focus on one thing to change.
Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.
Dawn van Engelen, RD has been a registered dietitian for the past 17 years. The last 16 of those years, Dawn has devoted her time to helping the many patients at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Ontario. While her opportunities to share her knowledge with athletic departments, church groups, day cares, and school children keep her busy, the long term care facility at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital has provided Dawn with immense experience in the nutritional challenges of the aging.
HISC: What is your background and why did you decide to get into this field?
DvE: I decided to get into the field of dietetics due to a keen interest in healthy eating and disease management with diet.
HISC: Who is your typical client/patient?
DvE: My typical patient is an 80 year old male with a number of co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. They want to know what to eat and not eat and are usually looking for a meal plan to be developed for a typical day with meal timing and portion sizes.
HISC: What are some of the most common nutritional deficiencies among seniors and are these different from the rest of the population?
DvE: Seniors are at risk for a number of deficiencies but most importantly calcium, vitamin D, and iron. This may not be any different than the rest of the population but the side effects of these deficiencies are more pronounced in seniors. Fluid intake is also low in the senior population.
HISC: What do you see as the biggest challenge for seniors when it comes to nutrition?
DvE: Meal preparation of 3 meals a day, meal preparation for one, and preparing balanced meals.
HISC: Between 37 and 40% of seniors over age 75 live alone. What effect does isolation have on nutrition?
DvE: Seniors do not feel like eating when they are alone. Eating is a social activity and if you don’t have anyone to share a meal with it becomes too much of a task. A daily task that many seniors may chose not to do.
HISC: What tips can you give to families and caregivers to help increase their senior’s nutrition?
DvE: Bring them food that they love. Invite them out often for a meal. Set up or get seniors involved in a dining club.
Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.
Research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network has discovered that lack of companionship is the biggest mealtime challenge for seniors. It’s time for family caregivers to dig into the the family recipe box to find a favorite family dish, and prepare and share a meal with their senior loved one.
Many families claim a favorite recipe that has been passed down through the years. We’d like you to share the stories about how that dish has changed through the generations. Perhaps Great Grandma substituted one ingredient for another that she didn’t have in her cupboard and improved the recipe. Or maybe Grandma added herbs or spices that became a welcome addition to the traditional fare. Whatever the case, we’d like to hear about your favorite version of the family recipe and the story that goes with it. You can enter that recipe and story in the Craving Companionship recipe contest between July 15 and September 15 and be a winner. Go to www.mealsandcompanionship.com for more information about the Craving Companionship program and how a Home Instead CAREGivercould help your loved one.
The Home Instead Senior Care Craving Companionship program is geared to helping families support a nutritiously vulnerable population – older adults who live alone. In Canada approximately 37% of the population age 75 and older – nearly 1.8 million people – lives alone, according to Statistics Canada. These seniors face significant socialization challenges, particularly related to lack of shared mealtime experiences, often taken for granted by most Canadians. Loneliness can have a big impact on seniors’ nutritional health. In fact, two of five seniors who live alone have at least four warning signs of poor nutritional health, the most common of which includes eating alone most of the time (76 percent). Check out www.mealsandcompanionship.com to learn more about how they can help a senior loved one.
Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.
The Canada Food Guide provides essential guidelines that seniors should follow with regards to their nutrition, and so often this is a resource that is overlooked in adulthood. Seniors and caregivers need to follow the nutrition guidelines of the Canada Food Guide and also follow these tips to ensure that while they’re getting their recommended daily values of fruits and vegetables, they also prepared them in the right way.
1. Choose vegetables by colour – when seniors are picking out their vegetable servings for everyday, they need to ensure that at least one green vegetable and one orange vegetable is included
2. Look for the rich colours – for green, seniors should look for the dark coloured ones like romaine lettuce, broccoli and spinach. Great orange vegetables are winter squash, sweet potato, and carrots
3. Pay attention to how you cook and prepare fruits and vegetables – avoid adding fat and sugar in preparation of fruits and vegetables, otherwise the benefits can be counteracted. For vegetables, steam them, back them and stir fry them
4. Skip the juices – even fruit or vegetable juice with added sugar or sodium doesn’t have quite the same positive benefits as the natural thing, so try to incorporate raw or cooked fruits or vegetables over juices
It’s dinnertime. Do you know what’s on the menu at your mom or dad’s house? If a senior is home alone, chances are he or she might not be eating a healthy meal at all.
According to research conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care® network, lack of companionship is the biggest mealtime challenge for seniors.*
That’s why the local Home Instead Senior Care office in Mississauga has launched the Craving Companionship SM program. The program offers family caregivers tips and practical advice to encourage companionship and easy healthy meals.
Craving Companionship also features a recipe contest promote if speech is given during contest entry period of July 15 to September 15, 2011 that encourages family caregivers to dig into the family recipe box to find that favourite dish, and prepare and share a meal with their senior loved one.
Selected contest recipes and stories will be posted online as well as in the Homemade MemoriesSM Cookbook, which will be available for purchase in time for the 2011 holiday season. Proceeds will go to the non-profit Home Instead Senior Care Foundation to benefit North American seniors.
For more details about the program including recipe contest guidelines and prizes, visit www.mealsandcompanionship.com.
Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.
Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.
Research conducted for Home Instead Senior Care reveals 10 mealtime challenges for older adults. The following percentages refer to the number of seniors who believe these are challenges for older people living alone. We have noted tips for how to make the most of mealtimes after each issue.
1. Grocery Shopping (79%) – Transportation can be a big issues for seniors. Contact Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga or encourage your loved one to participate in neighbourhood support systems when possible.
2. Lack of companionship during mealtimes (75%). If you can’t be there to dine with a loved one regularly, look for alternatives such as friends or neighbours.
3. Cooking for one (74%). Freeze most any type of leftovers including sliced and seeded fruit by placing it in plastic containers or freezer bags.
4. Eating nutritious meals (65%). Buy fresh when possible including fruits and vegetables.
5. Eating three meals a day (65%) . So many seniors are on prescription medications that must be taken with or without food. Coordinate the food plan with the medication plan.
6. High expense of cooking for one (64%). Encourage shared meals when possible.
7. Loss of appetite (60%). Help older adults make mealtimes an event, which can make dining more appealing.
8. Relying too much on convenience food (57%). Encourage your older adult to meet with a nutritionist or talk with the doctor to learn how to read labels.
9. Eating too little food (47%). Plan a trip to a favourite restaurant for a special dish. If lack of food is an ongoing problem, check with your senior’s doctor.
10 Eating too much food (38%). The bigger issue is eating too much of the wrong types of food. If you’re helping an older loved one with a shopping list or with grocery shopping, encourage healthier choices.
Home Care Mississauga helping older adults and elderly live independently and safely at home. Home Instead Senior Care in Mississauga knows the stress that our public home care system is under and we can provide the professional care that our aging seniors need. Please call 905- 276-2273.
We all know that losing a few pounds can be a huge challenge. It may be even more difficult for seniors because of their nutritional needs. However, it is important for seniors to realize there are safe and effective ways to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. The following tips can help seniors get on the right track to healthy weight management.
1. There is not a single diet that is right for every senior. When going on a diet, make sure to discuss this with a doctor and a nutritionist to make sure that diet is right for you.
2. Be reasonable about weight loss. Many seniors will try to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time. This is not safe and most seniors who do this do not successfully keep the weight off.
3. Keep a journal of foods that are eaten and when they are eaten. This will help seniors decide if there are any waysthey can cut back on calorie intakes and make healthier eating choices.
4. Never skip meals to lose weight. This can change the body’s metabolism and end up working against you.
5. Read labels before buying foods and choose those with low amounts of calories and fat.
6. Stay as physically active as possible on a daily basis.
They say it’s the “thought that counts” when it comes to gift-giving over the holidays, and that statement really does go along way. However, you do want the gifts you choose for the important seniors in your life to be something that is useful and appreciated, and those items are easier to come across than you might think! Setup a gift basket with some of the following, which will help their financial situation and even help to improve their health!
1. Purchase items that will aid in dental health – it might not sound like a glamorous holiday gift idea, but a senior’s dental health can really change their quality of life, especially over the holidays when they’d rather enjoy. In a gift basket, include a favorite toothpaste or denture cleaner, mouthwash, floss and a new toothbrush (buy electric, or one in their favorite color – something they might not splurge on!).
2. Stock up on other personal items – splurge a little bit and include personal items that are more than just the basics. If you know that they prefer a certain kind of scented soap or body wash, but typically stick to a cheaper bar soap, pick some up! Bubble bath, body lotion and other items they wouldn’t necessarily buy for themselves would also be appreciated
3. Include nutritious snacks – crackers, preserves, tea and coffee are all great things to include in a senior’s gift basket. Try to buy the items you know they love, but won’t get for themselves!
Men and women over the age of 50 require a Vitamin D supplement due to the body getting older. In addition to Canada’s Food Guide, everyone over the age of 50 should take a daily vitamin D supplement of 10 µg (400 IU). Vitamin D and calcium are important for bone strength and to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures in older adults.
As we age, our ability to produce vitamin D through sun skin exposure is reduced. Therefore, it is recommended all adults over the age of 50 take a daily vitamin D supplement.
Why do we need Vitamin D?
Vitamin D maintains bone health. The major role of vitamin D is the maintenance of serum calcium and phosphate concentrations within the normal range (IOM, 1997). Improved muscle strength, reduced fracture rates, and reduced rates of falling have been associated with higher levels of vitamin D in the body. Another role of Vitamin D plays in the prevention of some cancers and offer a protective effect against certain autoimmune diseases.
The major sources of vitamin D are fortified foods. In Canada, cow’s milk and margarine must be fortified with vitamin D. Goat’s milk, fortified plant based beverages (ex. fortified soy beverages), and some calcium-fortified orange juices are permitted to be fortified with vitamin D. Cheese and yogurt can be made with vitamin D-fortified milk, however, the final product does not contain as much vitamin D as fluid milk alone. The only natural sources of vitamin D in the Canadian food supply are fatty fish and egg yolks.
Seniors who have diabetes should know what questions to ask about their disease. Since there are different types of diabetes and each type affects seniors in a different manner, the questions that are asked are very important. The following list can help seniors determine what the right questions are to ask.
1. Asking the right questions can provide seniors with the right information to better enable them to manage the disease.
2. Seniors are urged to discuss all of their symptoms. While they may seem harmless, some symptoms could indicate other health problems.
3. Seniors who have diabetes will receive treatment for these symptoms, not the cause of the disease. This is why it is important for all seniors to know and recognize any new symptoms.
4. There are many questions in regards to the cause of diabetes, however, at this time, the answer consists of a very long list. There are so many factors that are involved and each person can have the disease because of different reasons.
5. Diabetes is manageable, so seniors must take the right steps to make sure they are receiving the correct treatment for their type of the disease. This includes asking questions about treatment options.
