August 13, 2009
The Dementia Caregiving Encourager
Volume 1; Issue 2
August 13, 2009
Hello again! We are glad that you are reading this second issue of The Dementia Caregiving Encourager. If you missed the first issue you can find the Archives on our website.
This issue will bring you even more of the help and encouragement you need as a dementia caregiver. You will find ideas on getting your loved one to eat a balanced diet, an Activity Idea, and the solution to last issue’s Brain Puzzle!
If you have any comments or suggestions for The Dementia Caregiving Encourager please
contact us.
We love to hear from our readers.
Blessings!
Paula Farris & Lanette Stultz
http://www.DementiaCaregiving101.com
5 Ways to Get Mom to Eat Something Besides Corn!
Our mom had a favorite restaurant. She called it “The Buffet.” Because neither she nor our step dad liked to cook they would usually eat a light breakfast, maybe a bowl of cereal or a scrambled egg with toast, and head to “The Buffet” for a late lunch/early dinner. The evening “meal” was something like a bowl of ice cream, or a donut with a small glass of milk.Mom would fill her plate at “The Buffet,” but she always got a large amount of corn and that is usually all she would eat. Mom’s eating habits were not balanced!
Since she ate most of her meals with her husband, Lanette and I didn’t often get a chance to be sure she ate the right foods, but when we did we found a few things that helped her to eat a balanced diet.
Here are 5 things for you to try to help your loved one:
1. Serve finger foods. Handling a fork or a spoon can be difficult for a dementia patient. Serving them food that they can pick up and eat with their hands eliminates the likelihood of accidents.
2. Add a little sugar. Our mom loved to eat sweets. I have read several articles that mentioned that many dementia patients prefer sugar on their food. I haven’t seen anything that gave a definite reason for this, but my theory is that the sweet taste may remind them of happy childhood memories.
Mashed potatoes sprinkled with sugar doesn’t sound appetizing to me, but if it gets your loved one to eat a variety of foods you may want to try it. Just be sure to take good care of their teeth.
3. Fill their plate for them. When we handed our Mom a plate of food (without any corn on it) she would often eat everything on it.
4. Serve snacks. Having healthy snacks available may not be enough to get a dementia patient to actually eat them. If you serve snacks to them they will eat a larger variety of foods and this will also help to regulate their blood sugar levels.
5. Look at the overall picture. There may be meals when all your parent will eat is cookies and milk or a piece of chicken. A week or two may go by without them eating a proper meal, but do your best to serve to them what they should be eating and try not to worry about it. Fill their home with healthy foods and it should be good enough.
Activity Idea
Dementia patients enjoy reminiscing about their past. Here is a fun scrapbooking idea that will give them a chance to tell you about some of their memories.Gather pictures of them as a child, of you as a child, and of your children. If you can find pictures of their parents and/or grandparents also this activity will be even more fun. To make it really interesting try to find pictures of everyone at about the same age.
You will also need archival quality scrapbooking paper, writing pens, photo holders or adhesive, and page protectors or a frame to hang on the wall.
Draw a timeline beginning with the year for the first photograph you have and spacing out the dates for the other pictures to the right of the page. Attach the pictures under their dates and use a pen to write down names, ages, and any other information your loved one shares about the people or event in the picture.
After you have finished the time line for all the pictures you have either insert the page in a page protector and add to a scrapbook or put the page in a frame and display it in your home.
This activity may take several sessions to finish if your loved starts telling stories about the pictures. Just enjoy the time together and keep working as long as it takes.
Solution for Last Issue’s Puzzle
Did you try to solve last issue’s math problem? Did you get the right answer?In case you missed it, here is the problem:
There are 7 ladies on a bus with no bus driver. Each lady has 7 backpacks containing 7 large cats. Each large cat has 7 kittens. How many legs are on the bus?
The correct answer is 10,990. If you would like to know how to get that answer drop me a line and I’ll send you instructions on how to actually work the problem. If I get enough requests I’ll just publish the answer in the next issue.
Thanks for Joining Us!
What else would you like to see in future issues of The Dementia Caregiving Encourager? Recipes, caregiving tips, dementia news and information, treatment options, poetry? What would encourage you? Let us know!Have you had a chance to read your free ebook yet? In case you missed the download link you can click here to get it. Please let us know if you have any problems at all in opening or downloading this file.
We look forward to visiting with you again soon.
Please subscribe to our RSS feed to be notified of what’s new at DementiaCaregiving101.com.