The importance of nutrition and diet for good health eating well is important at any age but even more critical for the elderly poor nutrition and malnutrition occurs in many older people so it's important for home care aides to monitor their consumers eating habits knowing some of the causes of poor nutrition can help home care aides become more aware of the possibility that their consumer is not getting their proper nutrition here are some of the causes decrease in sensitivity a decline in the senses of smell and taste side effects of medication this can lessen their appetite poor dental health can result in pain not wanting to eat financial burden worry about expenses may cause them to cut back or buy less nutritious food to save money physical disability sometimes something as simple as opening a can may be frustrating so they give up forgetfulness dementia or Alzheimer's patients may forget to eat depression depressed consumers lose their appetite quickly helping your consumer eat properly can start with a refrigerator and making sure it is stocked with the right foods the right foods are nutritious foods your consumer likes and food your consumer is capable of swallowing safely basically I would tell any home care worker you know that they should chat to the families about having you know something from the five food groups and their refrigerators such as dairy that fruits vegetables anything fresh if they could a good good products from the dairy family would be you know of course their milk some yogurt cheese things like that just to get their protein any fresh vegetables are excellent choices fruits of course you know we could keep in the cover your whole grains such as whole wheat bread you know pastas things that can be assembled quickly for them that they're not overwhelmed in food preparation many of the elderly are on fixed incomes and may try to cut corners sacrificing good nutrition in the process registered dieticians death Volvo offers some advice to help consumers eat nutritiously even though some foods may be out of season and expensive absolutely especially when you know we're out of season for some vegetables and fruits you know we could always transition over to some frozen vegetables which are great choices they also have frozen fruits which you know mix well in a blender to make a smoothie with yogurt you know the vegetables actually can be cooked in a lot of combination dishes with pasta to be you know filling for the individual you have more cost-effective than you know providing the fresh but fresh product I would stay away from the highly processed foods highly processed meaning you know canned items a lot of cured meats such as the lunch means I know there are convenience but you know for certain medical conditions the salt content can really you know cause a lot of other issues such as if their cardiac get into you know increased swelling you know it's not good for the cardiac patient canned soups and some canned vegetables can also contain high contents of sodium try to encourage frozen vegetables to replace canned and help them monitor the sodium content on the label Stephane offers some practical advice that helps your consumer make some gradual changes if needed really the biggest thing is making realistic goals for the patient not doing everything all at once just may 
be minor modifications if you know somebody usually drinks whole milk maybe switch over to a super skim or skim milk 2% anything is better for calorie savings if they're big soda drinkers or you know like a lot of like candies in that nature you know maybe we could switch from the soda to try you know more water or a diet beverage you know if that is something to conserve some calories for salty snacks a lot of people like to go for the salty snacks like crackers chips you know maybe going over at this they have baked chips they have crackers with less sodium you know things it's all in reading the food label getting out there in the grocery stores and just as you in yourself and you know really making them have realistic goals hydration is equally important in maintaining good health for your consumer the elderly can become dehydrated very easily and water is always the best option signs and symptoms of dehydration you know for the care worker to be aware of poor skin turgor sunken eyes dry cracked lips dry mouth any of those things can really help prevent the patient from becoming dehydrated if we catch it quickly you know pushing some peel fluids for them you know it could really decrease the incidence of having to be hospitalized you know we want to stay away from you know a lot of juices because of the sugar content again you know it's a concentrated sweet you know having your cup of juice in the morning you know great but throughout the day best to drink some water things that are decaffeinated also if you're you know a caffeine drinker like with coca-cola or coffee you know it's fine to drink those items but we want to make sure that we're balancing out with some water just to help to prevent you know dehydration caffeine does you know stimulate you know the frequency of urination it really can dehydrate you more than hydrate you do not be alarmed if your consumer does not eat large amounts at a sitting many elderly consumers will be better with five or six small meals each day also they may not need as many calories as someone who is more active so don't be alarmed if your consumer does not clean his or her plate with each meal diabetics face special challenges both physically and nutritionally being diabetic doesn't mean your consumer should give up all of the foods they love but careful moderation is critical to their good health the key is to find a good balance and make sure you are following the doctor's instructions here's a demonstration that is good rule of thumb that all your consumers should follow especially those with diabetes denise is a registered dietician specializing in diabetic nutrition she talks about a very simple system called the plate method imagine having a dinner size place and you are going to divide that place down the middle for one half of the plate and then the other half is going to be divided in two other sections on the side of the plate that has half of the plate that's the size of plate you would want to add vegetables that you like that do not make the blood sugar raise quickly there are just a few that make it race quickly but most of them do not make it race quickly the few that make it real quickly are things like lima beans and corn and peas that the vegetables that do not make your blood sugar rise can be steamed broccoli cauliflower carrots you could put zucchini you can have a nice cucumber tomato a lettuce salad but the idea is to fill that whole side of that plate with non starchy vegetables now in the other two sections of the plate you would want the one corner of the plate to have your round about four ounces of protein which can be fish or a protein like chicken
or meat and the other side goes your starchy food that could be your favorite little dish a Newton noodle it shouldn't be really more than a half a cup or so 1/2 a cup if you if you if you want to have a cup of that pasta then push away at the dinner roll because you know you need a balance and you don't want to overload yourself with the starchy as a home care aide caring for consumers with diabetes it is important to remember that there are three groups of foods that raise the glucose levels in your body the quickest these food items need to be eaten in moderation they are fruit and fruit juices milk and yogurt and starches starches include noodles rice a potato biscuits muffins bread and a little piece of pie I always get the question you know about diabetic ice creams and yogurt in my experience just if we read the food label the regular vanilla ice cream and the no sugar at or the fat-free sugar-free ice they really have the same carb content is the boat is the regular so what I would say to do is just have the smaller portion of the regular and the B died at least you get something that actually tastes good instead of it being heavily processed you know because a lot of the diet items are really processed you know they put things they take things out and they need to put things in the mix makes them taste go to the consumer so I would say portion control stick with a regular and just a smaller smaller amount there is nothing really that they cannot eat even to the point of wanting to have that teaspoon of sugar in their tea you have to count it you have to count that sugar that teaspoon of sugar as a serving of a carbohydrate now we all know you know the white foods such as the white flour things names like white flour and the bread and the white sugars they are they have little nutrition but some people just want that little teaspoon of sugar in their teeth and you know it's it's okay it's okay you want to have a little piece of that that cake that you know someone baked and brought to you you can absolutely have a small slice of that cake absolutely sometimes lack of good nutrition can be due to your consumer experience in some form of depression if you think depression may be a contributing factor talk to them about it and alert your supervisor depression can keep a person with diabetes and even without diabetes from getting up to you know Eddie in a routine sort of way get up at the same time or around the same time for breakfast so that they're not laying in the bed or on a sofa or in their chair for a prolonged period of time sometimes your consumer can't eat nutritiously because of experiencing difficulty with utensils this could result from a stroke rheumatoid arthritis as well as dementia there are many assistive devices that you can suggest to them to help make mealtime less challenging such as a scoop dish this dish makes it easier for a one-handed consumer to reach their food another useful tool is a plate guard that clamps onto the edge of the plate so that the food stays contained there are a wide range of different eating utensils available if your consumer does not have good grip strength if they don't have these useful tools check with your homecare agency for those consumers experiencing financial difficulties there are programs like Meals on Wheels or your local food banks that can help out with the cost to summarize there are many ways that home care aides can help their consumers eat well here's how you can encourage good eating habits make mealtime a pleasant and sociable experience by including the consumer in their food preparation give them a variety of healthy choices remember the food presentation is important the nicer it looks the more inclined the consumer may be to eat it watch for changes in your consumers ability to eat for those that have trouble with grip use assistive devices for many consumers worried about money there are many resources such as meals on wheels to help them and it is important that they enjoy the foods that they eat they should not deprive themselves of what they love as long as everything is in moderation by doing so your consumer has a much better chance of eating healthy getting the nutrients they need and still enjoying the foods they love.
be minor modifications if you know somebody usually drinks whole milk maybe switch over to a super skim or skim milk 2% anything is better for calorie savings if they're big soda drinkers or you know like a lot of like candies in that nature you know maybe we could switch from the soda to try you know more water or a diet beverage you know if that is something to conserve some calories for salty snacks a lot of people like to go for the salty snacks like crackers chips you know maybe going over at this they have baked chips they have crackers with less sodium you know things it's all in reading the food label getting out there in the grocery stores and just as you in yourself and you know really making them have realistic goals hydration is equally important in maintaining good health for your consumer the elderly can become dehydrated very easily and water is always the best option signs and symptoms of dehydration you know for the care worker to be aware of poor skin turgor sunken eyes dry cracked lips dry mouth any of those things can really help prevent the patient from becoming dehydrated if we catch it quickly you know pushing some peel fluids for them you know it could really decrease the incidence of having to be hospitalized you know we want to stay away from you know a lot of juices because of the sugar content again you know it's a concentrated sweet you know having your cup of juice in the morning you know great but throughout the day best to drink some water things that are decaffeinated also if you're you know a caffeine drinker like with coca-cola or coffee you know it's fine to drink those items but we want to make sure that we're balancing out with some water just to help to prevent you know dehydration caffeine does you know stimulate you know the frequency of urination it really can dehydrate you more than hydrate you do not be alarmed if your consumer does not eat large amounts at a sitting many elderly consumers will be better with five or six small meals each day also they may not need as many calories as someone who is more active so don't be alarmed if your consumer does not clean his or her plate with each meal diabetics face special challenges both physically and nutritionally being diabetic doesn't mean your consumer should give up all of the foods they love but careful moderation is critical to their good health the key is to find a good balance and make sure you are following the doctor's instructions here's a demonstration that is good rule of thumb that all your consumers should follow especially those with diabetes denise is a registered dietician specializing in diabetic nutrition she talks about a very simple system called the plate method imagine having a dinner size place and you are going to divide that place down the middle for one half of the plate and then the other half is going to be divided in two other sections on the side of the plate that has half of the plate that's the size of plate you would want to add vegetables that you like that do not make the blood sugar raise quickly there are just a few that make it race quickly but most of them do not make it race quickly the few that make it real quickly are things like lima beans and corn and peas that the vegetables that do not make your blood sugar rise can be steamed broccoli cauliflower carrots you could put zucchini you can have a nice cucumber tomato a lettuce salad but the idea is to fill that whole side of that plate with non starchy vegetables now in the other two sections of the plate you would want the one corner of the plate to have your round about four ounces of protein which can be fish or a protein like chicken
or meat and the other side goes your starchy food that could be your favorite little dish a Newton noodle it shouldn't be really more than a half a cup or so 1/2 a cup if you if you if you want to have a cup of that pasta then push away at the dinner roll because you know you need a balance and you don't want to overload yourself with the starchy as a home care aide caring for consumers with diabetes it is important to remember that there are three groups of foods that raise the glucose levels in your body the quickest these food items need to be eaten in moderation they are fruit and fruit juices milk and yogurt and starches starches include noodles rice a potato biscuits muffins bread and a little piece of pie I always get the question you know about diabetic ice creams and yogurt in my experience just if we read the food label the regular vanilla ice cream and the no sugar at or the fat-free sugar-free ice they really have the same carb content is the boat is the regular so what I would say to do is just have the smaller portion of the regular and the B died at least you get something that actually tastes good instead of it being heavily processed you know because a lot of the diet items are really processed you know they put things they take things out and they need to put things in the mix makes them taste go to the consumer so I would say portion control stick with a regular and just a smaller smaller amount there is nothing really that they cannot eat even to the point of wanting to have that teaspoon of sugar in their tea you have to count it you have to count that sugar that teaspoon of sugar as a serving of a carbohydrate now we all know you know the white foods such as the white flour things names like white flour and the bread and the white sugars they are they have little nutrition but some people just want that little teaspoon of sugar in their teeth and you know it's it's okay it's okay you want to have a little piece of that that cake that you know someone baked and brought to you you can absolutely have a small slice of that cake absolutely sometimes lack of good nutrition can be due to your consumer experience in some form of depression if you think depression may be a contributing factor talk to them about it and alert your supervisor depression can keep a person with diabetes and even without diabetes from getting up to you know Eddie in a routine sort of way get up at the same time or around the same time for breakfast so that they're not laying in the bed or on a sofa or in their chair for a prolonged period of time sometimes your consumer can't eat nutritiously because of experiencing difficulty with utensils this could result from a stroke rheumatoid arthritis as well as dementia there are many assistive devices that you can suggest to them to help make mealtime less challenging such as a scoop dish this dish makes it easier for a one-handed consumer to reach their food another useful tool is a plate guard that clamps onto the edge of the plate so that the food stays contained there are a wide range of different eating utensils available if your consumer does not have good grip strength if they don't have these useful tools check with your homecare agency for those consumers experiencing financial difficulties there are programs like Meals on Wheels or your local food banks that can help out with the cost to summarize there are many ways that home care aides can help their consumers eat well here's how you can encourage good eating habits make mealtime a pleasant and sociable experience by including the consumer in their food preparation give them a variety of healthy choices remember the food presentation is important the nicer it looks the more inclined the consumer may be to eat it watch for changes in your consumers ability to eat for those that have trouble with grip use assistive devices for many consumers worried about money there are many resources such as meals on wheels to help them and it is important that they enjoy the foods that they eat they should not deprive themselves of what they love as long as everything is in moderation by doing so your consumer has a much better chance of eating healthy getting the nutrients they need and still enjoying the foods they love.
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