My Mother is in a nursing home and has Dementia and just diagnosed with Dysphagia. She is on "Honey" thickness. The night before she was diagnosed she was fine with eating regular food and was even eating cookies and fig bars, and now all of a sudden is on "Honey" thickness foods. I always thought you would gradually go on the different types of chopped foods before going straight to "Honey " thick.
Its been a nightmare because now she is at the point that I have to feed her because she doesn't like the pureed food and will not even pick up the spoon to feed herself because lets face it, who wants to look at that consistency and pickup a spoon and put it in your mouth. LOL. I am looking for tips on how to go about this. And also I feed her lunch everyday but I am not sure if the aides at the nursing home are going to try when she tells them NO and she is very thin and needs to gain weight. It's an endless cycle.
I would suggest you bring in some soft foods she might eat. Like puddings, etc. Or maybe you could find the right seasoning to give it some descent taste.Experiment with it at home. Sweet potatoes Maybe, etc.
Good luck.
NDD Level 1: Dysphagia-Pureed (homogenous, very cohesive, pudding-like, requiring very little chewing ability).
NDD Level 2: Dysphagia-Mechanical Altered (cohesive, moist, semisolid foods, requiring some chewing).
NDD Level 3: Dysphagia-Advanced (soft foods that require more chewing ability).
Regular (all foods allowed).
Modified Regular Food Diet
If this is new they may still be experimenting to see what works best and willing to alter things a little. Try to meet with the dietitian to see what changes you can make, and ask for a supplement to boost calories.
I've got to say that wrangling over the food was one of my constant stressors in the nursing home. Lunches were the most awful because the meal mostly included things like sandwiches and salads - these do not puree well🙄. Because of the way meals are structured it was impossible for the dietary aides to be flexible and allow variations to the diet plan, so although my mom could handle some items that were not pureed they were never offered - I just rolled my eyes and said I understood and took responsibility as I fed her crackers with her soup or asked for a side of potato chips. You may find that she's doing better with her other meals, breakfast oatmeal isn't too different when pureed, mashed potatoes are familiar, soups should be acceptable etc.
Just popping back to add that I watched a couple of ladies whose families over rode the advice of the dietitian and insisted on a regular diet - the poor dears couldn't eat at all and staff were powerless to do anything about it.
It's a tough time for all concerned.
We were lucky that Dad remained able to feed himself so the MC staff was willing to spend a little extra time heating something up in the microwave; the 24/7 kitchen was a "feature" of his MC so getting a milkshake or smoothie was included in the basic service/price. It probably also helped that my brother went almost everyday for about 6 hours.
I hope some of this is helpful.
Many times there is not a clear idea of what our loved one would want. While we might understand DNR or no tube feedings; the whole feeding thing is stressful. I believe let them eat whatever they want whatever the risk. What is the point of anything else at this point in life?
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