While there might be something that just doesn’t seem right with your senior’s health, you may not necessarily go straight to a lack of proper nutrition. Here are some of the signs you might want to be aware of in her overall well-being.
Her Appearance Is Changing
Your senior’s body needs nutrients in order to keep itself as healthy as possible. Those nutrients go toward helping her skin to stay supple, helping her eyes to be bright, and to give her an overall healthy appearance. If she’s not getting the nourishment she needs, she may likely start to have a dull appearance. That change is due to nutritional elements being needed elsewhere.
She’s Bruising Easily or Wounds Are Healing Slowly
Nutrients are building blocks. Your senior’s body uses them to repair wounds and to heal, among other things. If you’re noticing that your elderly family member is bruising easily or that she’s getting wounds that are healing slowly, she may be malnourished. There can be other reasons, but if you’ve ruled those out, it’s likely a nutritional issue.
She’s Losing or Gaining Weight Unexpectedly
There are two big categories of malnutrition. Your senior may be eating far less than she should, bordering on starving herself. Or she could be eating but eating foods that are high in empty calories. Empty calories are ones that add up quickly but have no nutritional value behind them. They are calories that your elderly family member’s body cannot do much with that will benefit her. These two forms of malnutrition can result in rapid weight loss or gain.
Peek in the Kitchen
If your elderly family member isn’t being forthcoming about what she’s eating, you might need to do a little bit of poking around in her kitchen. Taking a few minutes to investigate what’s in your aging family member’s refrigerator and pantry can help you to suss out what she’s been eating. Eating habits may be something that your senior doesn’t really want to talk about, especially if she knows that she’s been light on the nutrients.
Talk to Her Doctor
The best solution, if you’re worried about your senior’s nutrition, is to talk with her doctor. Her doctor can run some tests to determine what’s really going on and where your elderly family member most needs nutritional help. From there, you can put a plan together to help her get what she needs.
If your elderly family member is malnourished, work with her doctor to determine a plan for correcting the situation. One solution might be to hire elder care providers to help with meal preparation, grocery shopping, and cooking duties. Making life easier for your elderly family member around eating can help her to resolve any lingering issues around getting the nutrition that she needs.