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Promises of the Care Home Menu

It's menu auditing season! As care homes prepare to change their menus over from winter to summer fare, aged care dietitians are auditing incoming summer menus to ensure they will meet the nutritional needs of older adults living in care. For several weeks now I’ve been elbow deep in menus and recipes, reviewing and revising the working document that is the Residential Care Home Menu. I am always impressed by the complexity hidden within a care home menu. It promises a lot!When visit...

Hunting for Protein

Getting enough protein is a hot topic in wellness conversations right now, but making sure you get enough protein for your current needs can be a bit overwhelming.I have an 80+ year old friend who keeps tally of how much protein he is getting over the day so he can be certain he is hitting his goal. He commented on the effort it can take to get all the protein he needs in a day.If you are not much of a meat eater, for whatever reason – preference, cost, appetite, or cooking skill – then this...

Getting enough Vitamin D in winter months?

Last night I watched my mum count out her medications into her monthly pill dispenser. It’s a bit of an undertaking! You may not think of vitamins as medication, but it is important to spare them some thought. Vitamin D is a good one to think about at this time of year because our main natural source of this vitamin is affected by the seasons.Our bodies use sunlight - UVB rays - to make Vitamin D via our skin, so when we have more reasons to stay inside (wet or cold weather for example) and wh...

Can your diet reduce your risk of falls and fractures?

Falling can be a terrifying and catastrophic event for older persons. I have a 93 year-old friend who fell and fractured bones in her neck several years ago. She recovered with time and therapy, and ever since has done specific daily exercises because she never wants to fall again.Falls among the elderly frequently result in fractures, and are a risk marker for loss of independence and increasing frailty. There are many causes of falls, some of which are nutrition-related. Two nutrition-related ...

Eating Well in Lockdown

Have you been excited about food and mealtimes over lockdown? Or did the isolation stretch your creative capacity for home cooking a little too far? If you are caring for an independent elder over lockdown, make sure you have some conversations about their appetite and their meals, even as the restrictions ease. Lockdowns impose a level of isolation on us which can threaten routines that normally safeguard good nutrition habits.Keeping to a routine can be a superpower – until it’s a gri...

We do life best together

My mother recently started participating in online exercise classes. At 10AM, three days a week, I can find her seated in front of her laptop in her living room, following her online instructor. This is new for her: she has never been ‘sporty’ and has always felt a little clumsy. While she has no trouble being physically active in gardening or housework, making time for ‘exercise’ is something she resists. Even when she knows it will be of benefit to her, such as the exercises the physic...

Journeying with our Elders

To the young, the journey into old age may look like a downhill slide, but for those on that road, it can feel like an uphill slog. Being a dietitian for the aging and the elderly has been my primary dietetic career. Working mostly in care homes I am often aware that I walk into a world of loss – loss of independence, a chosen home, a life partner, friends and sometimes children, health and even memories. Those layers of loss can be overwhelming at times, and can present a thick screen be...

If we didn’t have food, would we have families?

I came across this question years ago in a coffee table book. It was written in large, plain print across a double page, with no images to distract the reader from the question. At first the question startled me; aren’t families a biological survival mechanism, a natural human formation?  Then the question grabbed me and I tried imagining my life without food. What a dramatic mind game! Suddenly the whole landscape of life changed. The layout of the house changed. Gone was the k...