How To Make An Easy Meal Plan For Dementia Patients

Dementia is a progressive disease that causes memory, thinking, and reasoning declines. Dementia leads to changes in behavior and personality, making it difficult for dementia patients to care for themselves independently. While changes in behavior can make food preparation challenges, there are ways you can help your loved one keep up the pace during meal times, so they stay healthy. If you take some time to plan, you can make meal plan for dementia patients easier than they might seem at first glance.

Keep Your Loved One Involved

One of the best ways you can make meal times for your loved one with Dementia more enjoyable is to involve them in meal preparation. Try asking your loved one to help set the table, and include them in serving meals.

It is also important to keep food preparation as simple as possible so that they do not get overwhelmed by too many choices or too many tasks at hand. This way, they can contribute without feeling like they are doing too much work simultaneously.

Another great way you can keep your loved one involved in meal time is to make it a social time when friends or family come over; this will allow them to see other people and feel connected with others while still keeping things familiar by having their usual routine at home. Or if this isn't possible, try making sure there is some entertainment during dinner so that everyone can enjoy themselves (like watching TV together).

Experiment With Different Types Of Food Preparation

It's also a great idea to try new recipes and ingredients. For example, if your loved one doesn't like the taste of salmon, you could try cooking it in an Indian curry sauce instead of using lemon juice and dill. You can make the salmon more flavorful by mixing some garlic into the sauce--or instead of making a sauce at all! Try experimenting with different spices as well; if your loved one doesn't like spice in general but loves cinnamon, then add some to the salmon (but don't overdo it).

If experimentation fails or seems unnecessary, consider other food preparation methods. Cooking times can also change things up: If your loved one prefers his meat rare rather than medium rare, he might enjoy having his meat cooked longer to ensure that there are no raw spots left when he eats his meal. 

Make Sure The Dining Environment Is Quiet And Comfortable

Before you begin to prepare the meal, make sure that the dining area is quiet and comfortable. Create a separate room for eating. If this isn't possible, try to make the dining room as quiet as possible by turning off noisy appliances such as radios and televisions. Also, ensure enough light in the room so your loved one can see what they are eating (this can sometimes be tricky if they have Dementia). Finally, ensuring it's warm enough outside will help them enjoy their mealtime even more!

Serve Smaller Portions Of Food And Let The Person Choose When To Eat Them

It's important to feed the person when they are hungry and not force them to eat when they are not. This will be easier said than done, but try to ensure that the food is served in small portions. If you have a family member who is also affected by Dementia, it may be useful for them to sit down with you so that there can be some support during mealtime.

Conclusion 

Eating is an important part of life, and we want to ensure that people with Dementia can enjoy meals. You can improve a person's meal times by being flexible and considering new options. It may not be easy at first, but over time you'll get used to making changes to keep your loved one happy and healthy.