What to Do to Determine if Elderly Family Members Can Live Independently
Cook and eat with them.
How to Find out Whether Seniors Can Meet Their Nutritional Needs on Their Own
Being able to shop for and prepare nutritious meals is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle for seniors living independently. If you're in the habit of joining your elderly family members for restaurant meals or hosting them at your house for occasional dinners -- or you live in another state and only visit occasionally -- you may not have a good sense of how well they're able to do this.
Here's one way to find out: Suggest that it would be fun to shop and prepare a meal together, maybe letting the grandkids help out. Let them take the lead in selecting the menu and picking out the ingredients, and suggest they stock up for the week while you're at the grocery store. Watch how easily they're able to navigate grocery store aisles and check out what they select -- do they head for the frozen food aisle or do they also buy fresh fruits and vegetables? At home, can they use sharp knives with some dexterity, or have their hands become shaky? Do they keep a good eye on the stove, or are they becoming forgetful and letting things burn or boil over? This will give you an idea of both how safe they are in the kitchen and whether they habitually make a healthy, home-cooked meal or not.
Here are some other things to check for: Do they look like they've recently gained or lost weight, possibly related to a change in diet? Next time you're visiting, take a look in the refrigerator. Is the freezer full of TV dinners and the vegetable drawer empty? Has the milk gone sour? A quick look can offer important clues as to whether seniors are able to meet their own nutritional needs or whether they need additional support.
If they do need a hand, are you and they familiar with local resources, from senior-specific options such as Meals on Wheels to the growing number of companies that deliver healthful, precooked meals you can store in the refrigerator or freezer? Can friends and family take turns dropping off meals even a couple times a week, or, even better, coming over to cook a meal and add the most health-inducing ingredient of all -- company?
