A good day is one where we enjoy eating well.
One of the most common and significant risks that people living with dementia face is weight loss and the gradual development of undernutrition due to reduced eating. For people living with dementia who have small appetites, we want to stimulate that appetite and encourage eating to help prevent undernourishment.
This month's big idea is Eating Well. We want to facilitate this via three fundamental techniques that all work together:
- Encouraging
- Enabling
- Adapting
From a medical point of view, there are two critical needs that the brain has for good nutrition: it needs a decent total number of calories so that it has enough energy to run well. It also needs some specific micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals). Some essential micronutrients that doctors look for in people with dementia are vitamin B1, vitamin B12, and folate. When we see changes such as falls, low mood, and slow healing wounds, one of the questions we want to ask is, 'Are they eating well'?
This month we invite you to join us for a presentation about eating well. This 35-minute presentation comes from our Dementia STARs programme. You can find out more about Dementia STARs here.