Add melted ice cream to ensure drinks could work for a while. If he/she isn't suffering from hunger pangs & has lost will to eat, I believe they have chosen to go. We can't force them & their comfort is top priority. Hospice can help with that.
You can buy a thickener (ask your pharmacist) that will thicken any liquid and is flavorless. Other suggestions given might be more acceptable and tasty as well as increasing calorie content. But you might try this for soup or juice, if there are no other options, since it doesn't change the flavor.
Think of all the diet advice you have learned over the years and do the opposite - think butter on the veggies, cream in coffee and oatmeal, full fat greek yogurt rather than the diet stuff that is more popular, nut butters, cheese sauces, healthy fats like coconut or olive oil.
As for the honey thick part - usually that term is something that applies to fluids, did you perhaps mean puree? At my mom's NH there was almost nothing on the menu that they didn't attempt to puree, they didn't go to this level
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2q61M_fvEg
but they did make the effort to keep each food separate so that there was a flavour difference if not a textural one.
Some foods seem more normal than others, off the top of my head - mashed potato with a pureed meat gravy, polenta with a flavourful tomato sauce or refried beans, breakfast oatmeal with cream or a dab of butter and lots of brown sugar, soups of all kinds, and don't forget smoothies, puddings and custards (both sweet and savoury)...
Honey thick is a stage of thickened foods determined by Speech therapists. It can be confusing. Stirred Greek yogurt is an example of honey thick. they literally mean something to eat that is the consistency of honey so puréed food would need to be thickened. Odd isn’t it?
Right! It can be hard to think of alternatives to calories from sugar. But, there are options... cheese, sour cream, butter, oil, salad dressing, whole milk... all those things that someone on a diet would try to avoid.
Hormel makes puréed meals. The chicken dinner is good, but I don’t recommend the turkey dinner. I sometimes warm a Hormel dinner and pair it with a baby food vegetable (squash apple, for example) to bring variety and cut the taste a bit. Mashed potatoes, soft veggies, cooked spinach mixed with a bit of Ranch dressing and chopped up in the blender. Sounds weird, but tastes good. Most foods lose flavor in the blender, but this doesn’t. Try spinach dip or other dips.
Hormel or another company online also has breakfast puréed dishes. My husband ate these at the hospital, and he finished every dish! They actually taste good- French toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, peaches... Lots of sugar, but that’s one way to get calories. You can buy them online.
Speaking of sweets, does the patient like pudding, creme brûlée, or Greek yogurt? My husband likes cheesecake. I give him that to help him maintain his weight. If your patient likes any nutritional drinks, you can simply thicken them and serve it with a spoon.
There is also a jello that has protein and calories... what’s it called... gelatein! It’s sold on Amazon. There’s a sugar free option.
If you search online for dysphasia diet, you’ll find more ideas. Good luck!
As for the honey thick part - usually that term is something that applies to fluids, did you perhaps mean puree? At my mom's NH there was almost nothing on the menu that they didn't attempt to puree, they didn't go to this level
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2q61M_fvEg
but they did make the effort to keep each food separate so that there was a flavour difference if not a textural one.
Some foods seem more normal than others, off the top of my head - mashed potato with a pureed meat gravy, polenta with a flavourful tomato sauce or refried beans, breakfast oatmeal with cream or a dab of butter and lots of brown sugar, soups of all kinds, and don't forget smoothies, puddings and custards (both sweet and savoury)...
they literally mean something to eat that is the consistency of honey so puréed food would need to be thickened. Odd isn’t it?
Cheese! Yes! Good suggestions.
Lots of calories and delicious!
What about a cheese soup? I had a beer cheese soup in a bread bowl at a Renaissance festival once. Maybe omit the beer though.
I thought of sweets but the profile list diabetes.
Some yogurt is low sugar.
Hormel or another company online also has breakfast puréed dishes. My husband ate these at the hospital, and he finished every dish! They actually taste good- French toast, scrambled eggs with cheese, peaches... Lots of sugar, but that’s one way to get calories. You can buy them online.
Speaking of sweets, does the patient like pudding, creme brûlée, or Greek yogurt? My husband likes cheesecake. I give him that to help him maintain his weight. If your patient likes any nutritional drinks, you can simply thicken them and serve it with a spoon.
There is also a jello that has protein and calories... what’s it called... gelatein! It’s sold on Amazon. There’s a sugar free option.
If you search online for dysphasia diet, you’ll find more ideas. Good luck!
Best wishes to you.