Healthy eating is something that everyone should think about on a daily basis. As a family caregiver for an elderly loved one, this is even more important. You must not only think about taking care of yourself by eating the foods that you need, but also your parent’s needs and how you can help them to make good food choices each day.
There are many challenges and limitations that might keep your senior from always eating the foods that they should, but you can make it easier for them without sacrificing your own schedule. This helps to ensure that your senior is eating the foods that they need more often rather than always reaching for the takeout menus or unhealthy convenience foods.
Try some of these tips for simplifying healthy eating for your elderly loved one:
• Handle some of the cooking. Stocking your parent’s freezer with delicious, healthy meals that require little preparation makes it easier for them to always get a nutritious meal on the table even if they are not able to cook for themselves. Try setting aside one day out of every week or two and preparing meals for the entire family that you can tuck into the refrigerator and freezer. Be sure to label each with the name of the food, when it was made, and instructions for preparation.
• Prepare snacks. A refrigerator full of healthy raw fruits and vegetables are not going to help your parent if they are unable or unwilling to do the work to prepare them for eating. Take some time after each grocery trip to wash and chop stable products such as carrots, celery, and cucumbers. Divide these up into individual snack-size servings so when your parent is ready to eat, they can just grab one out.
• Make “meal kits”. Particularly for seniors who are dealing with cognitive decline, putting together healthy meals can be a major challenge. Help to simplify this by preparing “meal kits” for your senior. For example, store whole grain or vegetable-based pasta with a jar of sauce and instructions for preparing as well as a note to find a prepared salad in the refrigerator.
Starting home health care for your elderly loved one can be one of the best decisions that you can make for them throughout the course of your caregiver journey with them. Having a senior home health care services provider in the home with your parent is a fantastic way to help ensure that they are able to achieve and maintain the highest quality of life possible as they age in place.
This means not only addressing their individual needs, challenges, and limitations, but also encouraging them to pursue a lifestyle that is as active, engaged, independent, and fulfilling as possible throughout their later years. A home health care provider can accomplish this by designing a highly personalized set of services tailored to your parent’s needs, personality, preferences, and goals so that they are able to stay safe, healthy, comfortable, and happy in this new chapter in their lives.
When it comes to helping them to maintain their best health through a balanced diet, this home health care provider can provide safe and reliable transportation to the grocery store to help them stock their kitchen with the right foods, research recipes with them, and even help them to prepare meals and snacks that will work with their personal preferences as well as give them the nutrition that their body needs to thrive.
