Sunday, October 31, 2010

Another Dietary Issue

When strawberries are in season I often bring Mom strawberry short cake. Food has always had a love-hate component in her life, as keeping weight off has always been an even bigger issue. She did, however, love to cook and loved to present her family with delicious, great looking food. Thus food was important on numerous levels. When I brought the strawberry short cake into her a few days ago, she said "thank heaven for some real food". What I found out was several days earlier, the facility had started to puree her meat and grind the rest of her food. I immediately got this order reversed.

When a person with dementia takes a long time to eat, a long to chew or generally is having eating problems the answer is often to go straight to a pureed diet. For swallowing problems or true chewing problems, grinding the meat or mashing the vegetables may well be the answer. Pureed food should be the very last resort for severe swallowing or choking problems. By pureeing food it takes away the texture from the food, removes any visual appeal and creates a generally unsatisfying mush.

Thickening liquids can also create more swallowing and hydration problems than it solves. Newer research shows thickening beyond a nectar or tomato juice consistency actually creates more choking than it prevents. Often when thickening is used, the person with dementia drinks less and this can cause problems with medications, digestion and increase the occurrence of bladder infections. As family members we can ask the health care providers for the reasons for certain interventions. Often common sense approaches are the best!!

May Good keep you in the palm of Her hand.