What can be added to water to make it more appealing for an elder to drink?

I love the organic lo sodium tomato vegetable juice in water about 1/4 juice rest of it cold tap water...I make unsweeted hot chocolate with milk and water...soup, look for ways to use water.

My mother in law who is 96 and never drinks has started to enjoy Lemonade that I make with little packets at the grocery store. I buy the brands with Stevia rather than artificial sweeteners. There are different flavored available. I also bought a reusable drinking cup with a straw. It has a nice handle to make this easier. I keep 1-2 in the frig at all times. It's surprising how fast she drinks this flavored beverage!

Since you have issues getting her to drink, my Mom is the same way, I also by a product called Elete. It is just electrolytes with no flavor to add to any drink. The electrolytes help give her the maximum value for drinking only small amounts. Just 5 to 7 drops in her flavored water will really help her body get maximum benefit. There are many flavors to add to water as there are great answers here but the electrolytes are super important for the ones that don't like to drink a lot of liquid.

Being aware of the importance of water intake - all the aspects of your body that are affected by not getting enough (turned around: all the benefits to keeping up hydration) - and perhaps continually reminding as you encourage drinking, maybe even posting some of them visibly, can be helpful. This includes the cleansing of toxins, and their ultimate elimination through urination. (When my mom complains that drinking water will make her have to pee, I make sure to let her know that is a GOOD thing! It is part of one of the amazing cleansing processes designed for our bodies.) I do understand that it is an annoyance, and can create some difficulties - I just try to divert her attention to the positive aspects of it. In her case, the trips to the bathroom are just about her only physical activity, too - another bonus. ;)

Beyond that, a couple of tips:

1) Medications should be given one pill at a time - for several reasons, really - but this ensures at least one of those tiny sips per pill! (But more should definitely be encouraged with medication.)

2) Keeping water in reach all the time is a given, but try making it a SMALL glass. The amount seems more manageable to them (you may be surprised by that difference alone) and the results are more measurable for those providing care.

Side notes/other potential tips:

I care for my mom 24/7, so I keep my own glass of water handy also. Periodically throughout the day, I will get her attention and say "cheers!" with my glass raised - and we both take a sip.

Also, if I've been a bit preoccupied (have slipped on monitoring/encouraging intake) and realize she has just not been drinking for a significant portion of the day, I will break out one of our colorful 2 oz. shot glasses and have her drink a "shotta watta" ;) (I literally have her down that amount while I wait.)

Water is the essence of LIFE! Peace and love to all.

I read the first 10 or so answers and then decided to reply so I do apologize if I am repeating an answer. Your mom is in memory care which means that you must rely on the staff to give her water and encourage her to drink it, and then hope that your mom remembers that she needs to drink more water. It is a challenge. My mom has caregivers and wherever she goes they take along her flavored water. We use a 24 oz. cup, with a lid and straw hole. We tossed the straw that came with the container and use extra long disposable straws for better sanitation. Mom never was much of a water drinker or drinker of any other type of beverage for that matter, so having a glass of water to sip is something new. Her Dr. suggested Gatorade type products mixed with the water. We use about a quarter of the glass with the flavored beverage and the rest with cool water since mom doesn't like it cold. But, it is still a struggle. "Here mama, drink more of your water". I hear the caregivers saying that all the time.

Perhaps the staff needs to be more directive and tell her that she needs to drink a full glass (6 to 8 oz.) with her pills so that she doesn't choke. Then, what else can they do? They are with her during the day, but pill time and meals would be when they have the most direct contact. Maybe you could find a photo or poster of a gal drinking a glass of something as a visual reminder to your mom.

It is indeed a challenge. Good luck.

My husband will only drink Peach Iced Tea. But it works.

Ohhh, I totally missed that your mom is in a facility, that changes everything. Unfortunately you have to rely on the staff there to follow through with anything you come up with and I'm doubtful that will happen, my own mom is in a NH and has her beverages delivered regularly but staff seldom help her to drink and she can't on her own.

Turns out my mom like Ensure Clear. It tastes like juice and is fortified. Maybe your mom's doctors will okay it!

MsMadge
Chewing on ice? Has she been tested for anemia? That is one of the signs.

My idea is to have this elder try samples of different flavors of water but they very careful especially with her having some level of kidney failure and infections. What you may want to suggest is have her doctor start her on IV fluids if she's not already on them. This would help her stay hydrated much easier than it would be to make her drink water she doesn't like, at least for now until you can find something she can drink that's palatable. It may also be necessary to regularly put her on IV fluids to keep her hydrated. If her doctor will do this, then I would go that route

#1 Ice makes it SO much better
#2 Lemon
#3 Orange
#4 A variety of additives on the market

Watch for aspartame in the water flavors, there are other sweeteners that are better. Fresh fruit on the water flavors without sugar. We use a full pitcher with strawberries .. She has to drink the full pitcher each day (depends on the amount of water she needs to ingest). Best of luck!

My Dad enjoys drinking the flavored drinks I bring and put in his mini fridge. He calls it Koolaid, but they're packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Here's one of my recipes.

Cherry flavored alkaline water

In a 50 oz bottle:

Fill 1/3 with alkaline water

Add 1 cup 100% Tart Cherry Juice

Juice of 1 lemon

1 scoop of Nano Reds Superfood. https://www.biopharmasci.com/nanoreds-resveratrol-supplement-p/4nr10-btl.htm

Shake well.

Add alkaline water & leave 2 inches.

Shake, pour into empty water bottles, and refrigerate.

This may sound absolutely bizarre, but for my own self, when I need to drink more I eat spicy food or fish or something that makes me need to drink more. It doesn't do much between meals but it does make me drink more with my meals.

Many people who have become incontinent, or are on diuretics or drugs that lessen bladder control will simply limit themselves, fluid wise. Using the bathroom is so daunting, they simply won't drink enough to keep themselves properly hydrated.
I know my mother has a diet coke with tons of ice for breakfast/lunch. She will not drink again until dinner at 4:30 and then it's water or about 4 oz of orange juice. No ice water, or anything at all during the day. She has a supra pubic catheter and is still incontinent, to a degree. Her urine is so toxic smelling---she doesn't even fill up the smallest bag in a whole day. I was with her for 5 hours last Sat., it was HOT and in that time I drank a 20 oz Diet Coke, and about 24 oz of bottled water. She drank nothing. I was still thirsty! I'm sure that the fact she doesn't sweat at all and doesn't exert herself makes a difference, and the inconvenience of using the bathroom is annoying, but we cannot get her to drink more. She's stubborn and has dug her heels in.
I'd be thrilled if she chewed ice. Yes, it's bad for her teeth, but she's always dehydrated and if her body is, so is her brain. We NEED our brains to have sufficient cerebral spinal fluid around them to think straight! Mother is far better earlier in the day when she's had fluids. As the day wears on, she gets more addled. I can't help but think some of this has to do with the lack of water in her diet.

I'm not a fan of plan water either. I have found the flavored water at my local grocery store a good way for me to take a couple bottles in the car when I'm traveling. I also us the flavoring similar to Crystal Light, Aldi has a grape that seems to be my main choice, I make that by the pitcher at home. For work I have the individual pkgs of Crush orange and grape and I find these too sweet for the amount of water as directed. For those I am using a 30oz Ibex tumbler. I also love the fresh fruit in the pitcher when I have that available.

My mother refuses to drink water and will only take the tiniest sips with meds. I use artificially flavored drink mixes. Walmart brand or Crystal Light. Mom loves them and hasn't had an infection since I've started using these.

We both enjoy the new sweeteners, my wife is diabetic and I just enjoy the good things that I do to stay trim and fit. One of our favorites is Stevia. Another is Augve. Both are excellent sweeteners and I've been using both of them, (mostly Stevia) for a couple of years. Try mixing Stevia with a pack of kool aid, it's really great. If you like you can slip in a little Gatorade of the same flavor and the added electrolytes will make both of you smile. I hope I've helped.

Funny, sitting here musing. God supplys all good and would give herHoly Water that is good for her to drink...A lovely pitcher of cold water,ice and big sprig of Lemon Balm
in the pitcher of water...Something beautiful,not medicimal looking...How about a flavored slushi...peppermint tea? Glass of water with ice cube with a frozen leaf or flower...