Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Understand and meet the nutritional requirements of individuals with Dementia

Good Essays
893 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Understand and meet the nutritional requirements of individuals with Dementia
1.1-.Cognitive means the affect that dementia has on thinking skills e.g. memory, understanding etc. Functional is about the ability to perform actions such as feeding themselves. Emotional is about how they feel and react e.g. confusion can cause distress and aggression. As dementia progresses, eating and drinking can become difficult for some people. This factsheet looks at some of the difficulties that people with dementia may have with eating and drinking, and suggests ways to help.
A person with dementia may no longer recognise the food in front of them. They may struggle to use a knife and fork as co-ordination becomes difficult. The person may not open their mouths as food approaches and may need reminding to do so. Food may be difficult to chew or swallow or they may not want to accept assistance with eating.

1.2.- Dementia can greatly affect a person's relationship to food and eating. The behavioural, emotional and physical changes that take place as dementia progresses can all have an impact upon a person's eating habits and on their intake of food and drink.
It is important to do what you can to make sure that the person you are caring for enjoys their food and eats a healthy, balanced diet. As dementia progresses eating can become difficult for some people. However, by making a few changes you can help keep mealtimes as enjoyable and stress free as possible.

1-3-. Physical discomfort - The person may be having problems with badly fitting dentures, sore gums or painful teeth, all of which will make eating uncomfortable.
Lack of exercise - If the person is not very active during the day, they may not feel hungry. Try to encourage them to move around during the day and take part in physical activities or exercise.
1.4- culture, Identify and respect personal, cultural, and religious food preferences, such as eating tortillas instead of bread, avoiding pork or milk products, and not liking certain kinds of vegetables. Many caregivers have found that maintaining a sense of normality adds to mealtime pleasure, provides reassurance, helps maintain the person’s dignity, increases food consumption, and eases the tension that often arises during mealtimes
1.5- The importance of adding a variety of food and drink – To maintain the individuals choice and Help the person drink plenty of fluids throughout the day—dehydration can lead to problems such as increased constipation, confusion, and dizziness.
2.1- Mealtime cultures such as having strict meal times and sizes, a certain number of courses and in a certain order may not adhere to the needs of a person with dementia, their tastes may of changes and they may not wish to eat meals set out in a traditional fashion, they may not want to eat at the same time as everyone else or they may want to eat small amounts more often
2.2- Assessing the mealtime situation can help caregivers identify and resolve problems and understand what is happening from the care recipient’s perspective. the visual aspects of the environment—for example, whether there is poor room lighting, too much glare or too many shadows in the room or on the table, unneeded items or too many food choices on the table, distracting patterns in the place setting, or too little colour contrast between the food and the dishes, how the food smells, tastes, and feels, If the care recipient has difficulty using utensils, replace some foods with finger foods such as small sandwiches, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Simple adaptive eating tools also can help some people remain independent and maintain a sense of personal control while dining. These include items such as plates with large rims, cups with lids and wide bases, flexible straws, utensils with large or built-up handles, and non-slip placemats or suction cups to keep dishes from moving on the table.
2.3-Person centred approach -As dementia progresses, eating and drinking can become difficult for some people.
A person with dementia may no longer recognise the food in front of them. They may
Struggle to use a knife and fork as co-ordination becomes difficult. The person may not open
Their mouths as food approaches and may need reminding to do so. Food may be difficult to
Chew or swallow or they may not want to accept assistance with eating. If you are supporting a person with dementia at mealtimes it is important to remember that these reactions are not a deliberate attempt to be ‘difficult’, or a personal attack. The difficulties are likely to be related to changes caused by the person’s dementia. When supporting a person at mealtimes it can be a challenge to identify what the problem is, particularly if the person themselves is finding it difficult to find the words to explain, Meals should be relaxed and unhurried. Allow plenty of time and make sure that there are no distractions such as a television or excess noise in the background, do not feel you need to prepare elaborate meals – it is probably better to devote your energy to ensuring that the person eats and enjoys their food. Preferences and styles of eating may change, try to be flexible. If you have to assist a person to eat and drink, talk about what you are offering them to help remind them of tastes and flavours

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Illness and medications can result in reduced appetite and difficulties with shopping, preparing and eating food.…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    NVQ 5 dementia

    • 1460 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Dementia is progressive so will get worse over time. Individuals who suffer dementia will experience different impairments such a decline in memory, loss of skills such as doing their own personal care, tying shoe laces or even remembering to use the toilet. An individual who is suffering with dementia may well have changes in their behaviour, signs of disorientation and confusion may occur, forgetting loved ones and close relatives, they may become physically aggressive these are only some of the changes in behaviour that may occur. An individual’s ability may fluctuate who has dementia. It could be an increased fluctuation as the…

    • 1460 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unit 40 Dementia Care

    • 858 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dementia is the name for a group of symptoms which arise from different disease that affect the brain. The brain is made up of millions of brain cells which send messages to each other. These messages tell the individual everything they need to know to cope with everyday life, such as how to move, what they are seeing, how to speak. They also store memories and control emotions - such as laughing and crying. In someone with dementia, some of these brain cells become damaged and die, as a result their brain doesn’t work as well as it used to, simple messages do not get through. The typical early signs of dementia are someone becoming forgetful and confused, forgetting people’s names or how to get home. Later, people are likely to find everyday tasks such as shopping or cooking difficult. They may also find social situations hard to manage.…

    • 858 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Other health and emotional conditions could be depression, as that can lead to a loss of appetite and also a lack of interest in food and drinks. Becoming depressed can…

    • 1125 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    An individual with dementia may become depressed. This can cause a decrease in appetite and lack of interest in food. Dementia can also cause a person to forget that they haven’t eaten or vice versa. Visual reminders i.e. snacks placed around the home may prompt them to eat.…

    • 1169 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    communication

    • 1821 Words
    • 8 Pages

    What I will show in this paper is how nutrition can directly impact a person's experience of dementia and how poor nutrition can advance physical and psychological symptoms. Also I will attempt to show with evidence from a case history that as poor nutrition advances the severity of dementia will also advance, it also raises the need for hospitalization and/or institutionalization which in turn can worsen and develop into full malnutrition. A report released by the national association of care catering showed that patients with dementia who are undernourished may show rapidly worsening symptoms of dementia and their overall health. It is not uncommon knowledge that nutrients and vitamins sustains a person life and that lack of these essential nutrients can slow down healing, prolong infections and sustained over time can be fatal.…

    • 1821 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nvq 3

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages

    * Lack of exercise- if a person is not that active during the day, they may not feel hungry.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    4222 371

    • 3524 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Alzheimer's disease is a combination of genetic and environmental factors which during the course of the disease a number of chemical and structural changes happen within the brain. Alzheimer's disease develops very slowly several years its is not always detected at first but early signs are difficulty in forming new memories but some people may experience lauauage or spatial difficulties early signs of alzheimer's are normally forgetting faces, names or recent events, putting items in odd places, forgetting where they have put them, or put in odd places, getting confusued about the time of day, when if differant environment getting confused about where they are, getting lost, forget words or what they are about to say, a change to their mood or behavior which is not normally them such as apathy, being irritated or lost of their confidence. Alzheimer's will get worse over time but if differs from person to person. As a person's Alzheimer's gets worse their ability to remember to think, or make decisions worsens, their communication and language become more difficult. Some people become sad or depressed their behaviour may change. Phobias or anxieties are common or experience hallucinations , see things that are not they or people who are not they, Their feel angry or become agitiated. They sleep pattern changes or problems with sleeping or restlessness at night. Become unsteady on thier feet or fall more often. Need more help with the daily living skills eg: making themselves something to eat forget how to use cooker, micowave or personal care eg: dressing, toileting or eating.…

    • 3524 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many associated health problems when dealing with patients with dementia these may include constipation, changes in vision, changes in hearing,…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dementia Care 4222-237

    • 1846 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Dementia is the term used to describe the symptoms that occur when the brain is affected (damaged) by certain diseases and conditions (e.g. a stroke), including Alzheimer’s disease. As this is a progressive disease, symptoms can be slowed down, but not cured and will always, gradually get worse. Regardless of the cause of the dementia, as it is the brain cells that are dying, some of the person’s abilities and functions of day to day life will progressively become more difficult.…

    • 1846 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dementia is the term used to describe a general decline in all areas of mental ability. The symptoms involve worsening in cognitive processes memory, language, thinking and so on. With important repercussions on behavior. About 50 per cent of people with dementia are suffering from Alzheimer 's disease, about 20 percent from vascular dementia caused by blockages in the supply of blood to the brain, and about 20 percent from lower body dementia characterized by tiny spherical deposits in the brain.…

    • 2331 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Unit 40, Dementia Care

    • 2386 Words
    • 10 Pages

    There are many different types of dementia and they all have different signs and symptoms and will all progress differently. Some of these are:…

    • 2386 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Emotional: depending on the type of dementia a person has they refuse to eat all together, this could be caused by the mind simply telling them they are not hungry or thirsty when they actually are, this can happen quite often and is usually caused by a problem causing them to get upset or angry.…

    • 954 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    1) describe how cognitive, functional and emotional changes with dementia can affect eating, drinking and nutrition.…

    • 1175 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    c) Difficulties in performing familiar tasks – as the dementia progresses the person with dementia may become confused with tasks they had been completing all their live. Such as dressing, they may have lost the ability to recognise which item of clothes goes where on the body…

    • 4378 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Good Essays