Dietitian-approved menus are the best way to deal with senior care home residents who suffer from dysphagia.
Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, is a common concern for older adults – at least 15 percent of seniors suffer from this age-related dysphagia.
Dietitian-approved menus for seniors are designed to address dysphagia, as any disruption in the swallowing process can lead to serious health issues. Food menu program that include recipes created by registered dietitians can provide significant benefits for adult care facility residents living with dysphagia.
How Dysphagia Affects Senior Health
Proper nutrition can be a concern for older adults without dysphagia. So, when swallowing difficulties arise, getting seniors to eat a well-balanced diet is often quite challenging.
As a result, malnutrition affects many seniors who have difficulty swallowing. Lack of appetite and less enjoyment in eating are common issues, and dysphagia often leads to weight loss.
What’s more, dysphagia increases the risk of aspiration pneumonia caused by food entering the airway. Aspiration pneumonia is a life-threatening condition, particularly for older adults with additional health concerns.
How Dietitian-Approved Menus Help Seniors with Dysphagia
Treatment for dysphagia often includes working with a speech therapist to learn exercises and techniques to improve the ability to swallow. In many cases, mealtime changes are also recommended.
Dietitian-approved menus are designed to address many different senior health concerns, including dysphagia.
When medical professionals recommend changes in food preparation, the recipes can be easily and quickly adapted for easier eating. Older adults who have difficulty swallowing frequently need their food mashed or pureed, and a food menu program makes it easy to adjust the consistency.
Dining Considerations for Seniors with Dysphagia
Adult care facilities provide nutritious pureed diet programs for seniors who have difficulty swallowing. The problem is that older adults often find these options to be unappetizing – which means many seniors turn to less healthy foods like ice cream and pudding when they get hungry.
Dietitian-approved menus can solve this problem.
Seniors find recipes that use fresh, seasonal ingredients — instead of prefabricated foods – to be more flavorful and appetizing. And, when you exchange prepackaged institutional containers for artfully-arranged, delicious pureed foods, appetite and mealtime food consumption both increase – and older adults get the nutrition they need to stay healthy.
Does dysphagia affect the seniors living at your adult care facility? The Grove Menus program is a user-friendly, cost-effective food menu program with dietitian-approved recipes designed to address the unique health concerns older adults face.
The Grove Menus meal planning program contains hundreds of delicious and nutritious recipes, each of which can be easily modified for seniors with health conditions like dysphagia. In addition, our suite of food menu program tools can cut costs and reduce waste related to food production at your adult care facility.
For more information about the Grove Menus meal planning system, or to schedule a free demonstration of our dietitian-approved menus, contact us today.