What Physical Issues Might be Causing Your Senior to Get Inadequate Nutrition?
Caregivers in Anderson OH: What Physical Issues Might be Causing Your Senior to Get Inadequate Nutrition?
Getting the nutrition that they need is one of the most important aspects of protecting their health and supporting their well-being throughout their later years. For many elderly adults, however, getting nutrition is not as easy as many people would think. In fact, between 29 and 61 percent of the elderly adults who are seen in the hospital show signs of malnutrition. Despite common belief, malnutrition is not an unavoidable part of aging. It is possible for an elderly adult to be well-nourished and have everything that their body needs, and chronic malnutrition can lead to a wide variety of serious health complications and illnesses. As a family caregiver, this makes it essential for you to not only be aware of the possibility of inadequate nutrition in your aging parent, but also why this might be an issue so that you can take steps to help them get through these issues so they can give their body what it needs.
Some of the physical issues that might be causing your senior to get inadequate nutrition include:
- Loss of appetite
- Difficulty chewing
- Dysphagia and other problems with swallowing
- Loss of sense of taste that makes eating less desirable
- Loss of sense of smell that reduces the appeal of food and can even make it unpleasant tasting
- Respiratory disorders
- Gastrointestinal disorders that make it difficult for your elderly parent to eat or prevent them from absorbing the nutrition that they need from the food that they do eat.
- Infections throughout the body that reduce appetite or cause symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea that prevent the body from absorbing the nutrition that it needs.
- Presence of disease throughout the body, such as cancer, that limits appetite or causes malabsorption.
- Poor mobility that makes it difficult for them to prepare the foods that they need or access foods when they do not have assistance.
If your caregiver efforts have become too much for you to feel that you can handle them successfully, you are dealing with extensive stress, or you simply feel that your aging parent would benefit from more diversification in the care that they receive, now may be the ideal time for you to consider starting home care for them. A home care provider can be with your parent on a schedule that works for their needs as well as your care efforts. This enables the care provider to give your loved one a highly personalized set of services designed to ensure that they receive the care, assistance, support, and encouragement necessary to keep them as safe, healthy, comfortable, happy, and independent as possible throughout their later years. When it comes to helping your parent get the nutrition that they need, this care provider can give your parent safe and reliable transportation to the grocery store to help them stock their kitchen, find recipes and foods that fit with their personal tastes as well as their health needs, and get into the kitchen with them to help them prepare meals and snacks that are right for them.
If you or an aging loved one are considering hiring a professional caregiver in Anderson, OH, please contact the caring staff at Queen City Elder Care today. Serving Cincinnati and Surrounding Communities. Call Us Today (513) 510-4410.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2563720/
http://www.ascseniorcare.com/dealing-loss-appetite-elderly/
Michele Vollmer is a visionary leader who is perpetually searching for ways to improve, so to remain at the leading edge of the home care industry.She has served in the healthcare industry since 1989, including pharmaceutical and home health sales, as well as hospice sales and sales management.
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