Nursing home menus for Alzheimer’s patients aren’t typically required to follow a specific dietary plan. Even so, mealtimes can be a challenge. As the disease progresses, it often causes a loss of appetite. This lack of interest in eating can make proper nutrition difficult to achieve.

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month, so now is the perfect time to consider adapting your nursing home meals to better meet the needs of these special-needs residents.

Include More Finger Foods in Your Nursing Home Menus

In the early stages of dementia, patients may still be able to wield a fork or a spoon. Eventually, however, most will lose the manual dexterity skills required to properly handle utensils. For this reason, many residents with Alzheimer’s disease require assistance at mealtimes.

However, some patients can continue to feed themselves if finger foods are served. Try waffle sticks instead of pancakes, for example, or muffin cup soufflés’ instead of scrambled eggs. You can also cut sandwiches into easy-to-hold sections, or roll up the fillings in tortillas and slice them into pinwheels. Chicken legs or breast nuggets, meatballs, mini salmon patties, pureed soup served in a cup and fruit salad are other examples of nutritious foods that can be eaten easily without utensils.

A word of caution: dementia patients may have trouble determining whether something is too hot to eat or drink. Be sure to test finger food temperatures before serving them.

Consider Frequent, Small Meals for Alzheimer’s Patients

Alzheimer’s patients can become easily distracted at mealtime and, for many, it is difficult to sit and remain focused on eating for very long. Plus, seeing too many foods at once can be overwhelming to those with the disease, especially if the foods are brightly colored.

Serving three full, well-balanced meals each day may serve most of your residents well. However, those with dementia may derive better nourishment through several smaller meals. So, if the day’s breakfast menu includes hard boiled eggs, toast, bacon and an orange, consider splitting the meal up into a few smaller meals, offering just one or two foods at a time. By doing so, your Alzheimer’s patients may eat more and, therefore, enjoy better overall nutrition.

Be Mindful of Food Preferences When Planning Nursing Home Menus

One of the best tips for easier mealtimes with dementia patients is to serve foods that they love. Give them what they want to eat and you significantly increase the chance of them eating their meals.

It’s important to note that food preferences often change as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia progresses. Foods that were favorites may be rejected, and other previously disliked foods may take their place. Task food service staff with keeping watch over what your residents eat and what they leave on the plate, and adapt their meals accordingly.

To facilitate special menu requirements for Alzheimer’s patients, the Grove Menus food menu program provides a variety of easy-to-use tools for customizing assisted living and nursing home meals. Contact us today to learn how our program can help you improve the lives of your residents and streamline nursing home menu planning.