What a great thing it would be if all our clients ate perfectly all the time! How wonderful to not have to worry about them not eating enough, and to know that they are getting essential nutrients at every meal.

It’s a nice thought but in reality it probably does not happen, even though most live-in carers are more than able to prepare nutritious and delicious meals every day.

What can we do?

Start off by offering your client smaller meals and more often, so rather than serving three regular meals, offer five smaller ones. Sometimes the sight of a large plate of food is enough to put people off from eating.

If your client cannot maintain their weight despite eating regularly, then you should talk to the doctor about adding a nutritional supplement to the diet. You should serve these between meals and not with regular meals, so your client is more inclined to drink them.

For clients who lose weight unintentionally you need to focus on energy dense foods. These include butter, cream, full fat milk and cheese.

• Offer two courses at each meal if possible
• To boost energy intake, offer dressings, sauces, honey, cheese, and butter at mealtimes
• Replace water with fruit juice or soup
• Offer dessert regularly rather than as a treat

Some meal ideas

Breakfast:

Offer porridge made with milk or cream and topped with honey. You may follow this with buttered toast and honey or jam.

Scrambled eggs with extra cheese and bacon are always an option, followed by fruit and yoghurt.

Lunch:

Toast topped with baked beans and grated cheese followed by a pudding.

A good standby is soup – thick and milk based - followed by cheese on toast or tuna sandwiches.

Main meal:

Any meat or fish that your client enjoys, served with rice, potato or even pasta. Top with grated cheese or serve with a gravy.

Try to use high fat cooking methods when preparing meals. Roasting and frying are examples of this.

Desserts:

Include custards, instant puddings, ice cream, fruit and cream, milk puddings like sago, baked custards and sponge puddings are all energy dense foods and most people will happily eat them.

Snacks between meals:

Muffins, crumpets, toast, crackers and cheese, cream cheese dips, hummus, sandwiches filled with tuna and mayonnaise and pastries are all suitable to offer between meals.

Final thoughts

Make sure that you have talked to your client’s doctor if you think there is a problem with diet and nutrition.

Offer small meals five times a day and always try to add a dessert after two meals.

Finger foods are sometimes more acceptable to a person who does not enjoy their food too much.

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