Dear Friends January 2024

Dear Friends

fries

Encouraging Good Nutrition

January 2024

Dear Friends,

Here's an excerpt from one of our fliers:

Helping your care-receiver develop and maintain a healthy, well-balanced diet can be a considerable challenge, especially if you’re an adult child taking care of an aging parent.

[That's not that doing the same for your care-receiver spouse is all peaches and cream. Oops! Peaches and low-fat milk.]

Some points to consider:

--As a body ages, the digestive system is more prone to heartburn and constipation. Dental problems may make chewing painful. Some medications suppress a person’s appetite or promote weight gain. Depression can bring on a change in appetite.

--Dad may simply not care about food. If Mom has memory loss, she may forget to eat or may think she has eaten.

--Finances may be tight. Some older people, after paying rent and utility bills, have little left over for buying food.

--It can also be difficult to eat properly when you’re alone. It’s so much easier to skip a meal or nibble on less nutritious foods when no one else is there.

--And then, too, we each develop our eating habits over a lifetime. While we may know about the basic food groups or the food guide pyramid, that doesn’t mean we always follow those guidelines. Changing lifelong habits is very difficult.

--As the adult child of an aging parent, you can encourage your mother or father to eat well. This doesn’t mean being pushy or disrespectful. It doesn’t mean ignoring a parent’s wishes. In fact, the more your care-receiver is involved in the process, the more likely it is to succeed.

--A first step may be to talk to your loved one’s doctor and ask for the help of a nutritionist who can tell you what he or she specifically needs.

--Your care-receiver may have to keep a daily journal of exactly what he or she eats. (The results can be surprising, but we would probably all be surprised if we kept track of what we ate each day.)

-- A nutritionist will recommend an appropriate diet — low salt, low sugar, or low fat; high in fiber or calcium; and so forth.

--When the family gets together, make sure that foods on the diet are included in the menu. Don’t serve your loved one food he or she isn’t supposed to have.

--Keep in mind that some older people find it easier to eat six smaller meals throughout the day rather than three regular-size ones.

--Make food preparation as easy as possible for your care-receiver. Freeze small portions that can be heated in the microwave. Make sure the food looks appealing.

--Check out local community resources to see what kinds of meal delivery programs are available.

You can read more here.

And here is the full list of flier topics.

As always, you and your loved ones remain in my prayers.

-- Bill

- - -

Again this month we cordially invite you to join the Friends of St. John the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include YourAgingParent.com and CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about becoming a member here.

No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).

You can:

Past "Dear Friends" Letters

Order Form

Past "Dear Friends" letters