How to Assist Adults with Eating and Drinking

1. Personal care

Helping older adults with everyday activities is also very important. Many elderly people need help with their daily activities and taking care of their hygiene (bathing, shampooing hair and brushing their teeth), picking out clothes, getting dressed, and eating. Personal care provided helps keep the older adult as independent as possible, safe and healthy and improve their quality of life.

2. Honouring individual preferences and independence

It's important to honour the elderly adult's preferences as much as possible. While caring for older adults with some loss in their ability to fully care for themselves, it is essential to make them feel that they still have some control in their daily lives. It is necessary to involve them in choosing when and how to do certain activities and encourage them to do things independently as much as possible, even if they take a little longer to finish their work. It's essential to have patience while dealing with elderly adults, and when unsure if they need your help, it's always better to ask.

3. Helping adults with drinking

Encouraging an older adult to drink about eight glasses of water per day is very important. Adults having enough water can prevent urinary tract infection, constipation and avoid dehydration. Elderly adults sometimes may lack thirst because the ability to detect thirst decreases with age, and hence they must be encouraged to drink adequate amounts of water. Many older people also don't want to drink too much because they are afraid that they may have to go to the bathroom too frequently. An older adult with an impairment affecting their ability to drink may need to be offered a straw or small sip and might need assistance to drink throughout the day. It's always better to avoid offering soda, juice (high in sugar), and coffee and tea (containing caffeine), which dehydrates or draws water out of the body.

4. Helping adults with eating

Using a calm, friendly, and encouraging tone during mealtime helps and makes it unique. The following approach can help elderly adults to enjoy their mealtime and encourage them to eat the right kind of old age diet to fulfill their nutritional requirements.

● Meals should be placed within their reach.

● Checking the availability of proper utensils for their meals

● Checking frequently to see if they need help.

● Offering help to cut food for an older adult facing difficulty. It is also essential to cut the food into small pieces to prevent choking.

● Offering alternative food if what was offered has been refused.

● Serving one course at a time and allowing them time to complete.

● Using a clear glass to judge how much fluid is going into the mouth.

● Help an older adult to wipe their face, if necessary and make sure they feel presentable.

5. Safe Eating

In elderly adults unable to feed themselves, some things to be kept in mind to minimize the risk of choking or aspirating the food or drink into the airway. Also, some best alternatives while choosing food or methods of preparation might be used, such as:

● Smaller bites and sips are safer.

● A slower pace while having food is safer.

● Slicing/crushing food or converting it into creamy gravy/sauce helps some elderly.

● Rich soups/meats and vegetables mixed/blended to increase calories can be served.

● Mashed/pureed vegetables and fruits or their juices can also be offered.

● Custards, ice creams, puddings, milkshakes, health shakes etc can be used to replace items that the elderly find challenging to chew or eat.