As the illness progresses some individuals may lose their appetite and weight. This may be because of the disease or the psychological state of the individual, such as fear of vomiting, depression, anxiety, or an aversion to the quantity of food given to them. It is important to support choice, where capacity has been appropriately assessed. Should a carer have any concern regarding a person’s nutrition then please contact the community LD dietetic team for advice and support.
Things to consider:
- Have a list of the individual’s ‘favourite’ foods and encourage these.
- Keep a food diary to monitor the individual’s intake.
- Encourage little and often and ensure that foods are calorie rich such as adding cheese, using full fat milk and yoghurts.
- Try changing the plate size so that the individual does not feel overwhelmed by the amount of food.
- Make the food look nice using foods bright in colour and flavoursome.
- Have snacks available for when the individual wants something straight away.
- Contact the individual’s health professional to discuss use of ‘build up supplements.
- Consider the environment, is it relaxing, familiar and comfortable for the individual to eat in?
- Refer to speech and language therapy if there are any concerns regarding difficulties swallowing, or a noted deterioration from an existing dysphagia care-plan