Posted By: Sonja
Eating and drinking problems happen when you are busy thinking about other things. As a caregiver you may feel you are already covering the issues in front of you-falling, wandering, incontinence, etc. Dad is eating and drinking just fine. Is he? I will leave the subject of what to our dietician, but let’s talk about how.
I’m not terribly concerned with table manners. I never cared about elbows on the table, etc., but when Dad tried to put half a piece of pizza in his mouth at one time I realized we were at the beginning of a problem. People with Alzheimer’s don’t remember what is sensible and appropriate. That’s bad enough when eating, but combine that with the problem that Mom or Dad may be beginning to have problems swallowing. It’s a recipe for disaster. It’s time to start cutting the food for them. I cut the food at the counter before I ever present the plate to them. This helps prevent the feeling that they are being treated like a child. You may even need to go further than that and put tiny amounts of food on the plate at a time. You can get a lot of chopped up pizza on a spoon, or in your hand! Make sure you are aware of the state of your loved one’s teeth. Are their teeth in (if they wear dentures or partials)? Have their teeth been checked recently to be sure they are having no pain? You may need to remind them to chew. Commonly people with Alzheimer’s Disease forget to use silverware. Hand them the fork or spoon and chances are it will be somewhat automatic. If not, decide how important this is to you. Fingers were created first and the time may come when they will not remember how to use a spoon. We’ll stop at that and address feeding at a later time.
Now. Fluids. Extremely important. Dehydration can cause increased confusion and increased bladder infection. Some people don’t like to push fluids because they know that what goes in must come out. Incontinence products are expensive, but not as expensive or hazardous as a bladder infection that could move into the kidneys or increased confusion that could result in all sorts of other problems. People with Alzheimer’s most often doen’t realize they are thirsty. Initially it might be enough to put a glass of water in front of them, but before long they will need to be frequently reminded. Working in a memory care unit we were in a constant cycle of fluids in and fluids out. Everyone had a glass of juice and then everyone took a trip to the bathroom. Then we began again. We are primarily water and that needs to be constantly replenished. The new vitamin waters are wonderful for this! Plain water is wonderful, but people seem less apt to drink it. Experiment until you find something that works. Even a popsicle is liquid in a pinch. Don’t dismiss the idea of a straw or “sippy” cup if needed, but as with feeding, we’ll get to that later.
So pay attention to what’s goin in or, as the case may be, not going in and how it’s going in.
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