Nutrition for Older People - Barchester Healthcare

For 8 years I officially was the main caregiver for my disabled Mother. During that time one of the hardest things I had to deal with were her meals and tempting her to eat.
In the beginning it was much easier as she was far more capable and when I first moved in, her meals came in at a shocking average of 5000 calories a day! Mostly carbs in the form of mash dripping in butter!

By any standard that  is a huge amount but when you can do little or no exercise to counteract that type of intake no wonder she was 16 stone and gaining!With her bad heart that was no good at all so I set about redesigning her meals but it took a great deal of effort and research to find great content on the subject; but eventually I did and in 2 years she had lost 4 stone and was much brighter and mentally healthier.

Nutrition is exceptionally important for the elderly, they deteriorate so quickly that it is imperative to make sure they get the recommended daily intake of Protein, carbs, Vitamins and minerals as well as avoid any foods which interact with any medication (such as grapefruit and blood pressure).Barchester are a Nationwide provider of care within their residential homes and one of the main points that is clearly found on their website; is that of nutrition and great food being a priority.I was lucky that I could look after my Mother at home but so many cannot. Knowing that your loved ones are in an environment where they are cared for in so many ways is just so reassuring.Barchester have produced a wonderful document available to all, to download. It goes into depth about great nutrition and includes some amazingly delicious recipes!As you can see from the contents page the information covers every aspect, so if you are currently looking after an older loved one it could be really useful!You can download the booklet HERE.

I think the section on finger foods and how to encourage are particularly helpful, as I know how difficult it became to entice my Mum to eat and stimulate her appetite.We need to look after our elderly, and we need to know they are cared for if in a residential setting. I think any company that goes to this much trouble in regard to such an important subject is already 5*!

This post was sponsored by Barchester but the opinions and content are my own.