6. Dining Alone
A meal is often enjoyed more when the event is shared with another person or a group.
Try to share at least one of the meals each day with your parent so you can visit, talk about a new or adjusted recipe, or discuss events and outings.
Recruit other family members, friends and neighbors to join Mom or Dad regularly for lunch or dinner. Recommend that they visit with your parent on any subject other than illness or limitation, and that they ask questions to help Mom or Dad retain and even expand mental agility and ability. Anticipating the visit will surely entice your parent the dining table.
Research local "meal events," such as lunch at the Senior Center. The meal will be healthy, and your parent can visit with other mature adults in a communal setting. Your local Area Agency on Aging can provide the sites and contact information, plus if volunteer drivers or specialized transit services are available for transportation.
7. Lack of Knowledge/Motivation
Draw Mom or Dad into the plan: "Mom/Dad, if we can make sure you have proper nutrition, we can reduce the side effects of your medication; we can help your medications work better; you will probably feel better; plus we can celebrate our mutual life together for far longer. Will you buy into the best plan?"
If your parent understands the vital role of nutrition in her or his life, and agrees with the approach, you have a partner for all the right reasons.
In this step, offer a positive comment at least once each day to your parent that "with your proper nutrition, we have taken another giant step forward in your health and independence."
8. Monotony
When your parent adheres to your daily healthful nutrition program, treat her or him to lunch or dinner in a restaurant to enhance the dining experience. The meal will probably be prepared and seasoned differently than your own recipe. Continue to focus on the healthy foods in the diet program.
Dining out will also give you a break from your kitchen chores.
9. Unwillingness to Cook
If you can't prepare all the meals, call for help. There may be a Meals on Wheels program for homebound older adults available in your community. This program prepares hot and healthy dishes that conform to the National Institutes of Health nutrition guidelines, and delivers them daily. Your local Area Agency on Aging will have details and contact information.
An alternative, particularly if your parent lives elsewhere in the country, is to order five to seven fresh gourmet quality meals per week delivered to Mom or Dad by a firm such as Magic Kitchen. Each week the company delivers the flash frozen meals in a single shipment for your parent or helper to stash in the freezer, to be withdrawn one each day. Your parent then only needs to heat the meal as recommended, and then dine in style.
The average meal program cost ranges from $58 per week for seven daily meals, to $116 per week for two meals each day. Pricing could be higher depending on your selection of side dishes and/or desserts.
10. The Last Resort if Your Elderly Mom or Dad Still Won't Eat
Proper nutrition is vital for your parent. If all of the above fail to work, seek the counsel of your parent's physician. Forced feeding may be the only alternative, and the doctor may direct your parent to a hospital for forced feeding combined with examinations to determine if he or she has any physical reason for declining food, and then treating or correcting the cause.
As caregiver, your nutrition mission is important. You can, indeed, ensure that your Mom or Dad is in the best possible and functional health.
Leonard J. Hansen is the nation's pioneer in writing and editing for and about mature adults. He has received 106 professional awards and fellowships for his creative work.