Sitting around a table eating a hot meal can be a healing thing. Ensuring a healthy and nutritious meal is essential, especially for your aging loved ones. Unfortunately, preparing meals can prove taxing the older you get because of declining cognitive and physical abilities.
Food may go rotten, forgotten in the back of a fridge. Your loved one might rely on microwave meals instead of healthy fruits and veggies because they don’t have enough energy for complicated meals.
That’s why an in-home caretaker who can perform meal prep for seniors is integral. Meal prep involves planning and preparing meals for the entire week. These meals will be large batches that can be refrigerated or frozen and taken out to be ready to eat. These meals can offer several different benefits.
Improves Health and Diet
One of the many benefits of meal prep is that the caretaker can prepare healthy meals according to your loved one’s dietary needs. As your family member age, keeping them healthy becomes even more critical.
That’s why being able to prepare meals that include fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as healthy protein, can improve their health. It keeps them from relying on faster meals that may not be as healthy, like junk food. Instead, they can reach for the healthy meal pre-prepared for them.
Reduce Food Waste
It happens to the best of us. We forget the lettuce in the back of the fridge or the oranges rot in the fruit bowl. As we age, our memory begins to fail even more so.
Meal prep is a way to avoid forgetting food until it’s gone wrong. An in-home caretaker will devise a grocery list that includes all the ingredients needed to meal prep for the weal, avoiding excess waste.
Quality of Life Improvement
As your loved one eats better, they’ll inevitably feel better. Your loved one can eat more nutritious meals in better portions that account for their dietary restrictions. They’ll save money and time. They’ll be at less risk of food-borne illnesses that might be riskier for the elderly.
Companionship
As your family member ages, the need for companionship does not go away. Loneliness can impact mental health, which can further impact physical health. Meal prep can be a communal experience.
An in-home caretaker might take them for grocery store trips to decide what meals they want. They might allow a loved one to assist in meal prep, allowing your loved one to feel useful. Instead of sitting alone with a microwave meal, they can talk with their in-home caretaker as they prepare something delicious.
Safety
A kitchen is dangerous. Between heavy pots, open flames, and sharp knives, older people with reduced reactions might injure themselves if they were left to cook on their own. Research has shown that 48% of fires were caused by cooking equipment, with a third of those caused by unattended stovetops. Aging adults are more liable to getting hurt due to their health conditions, decreased brain functions, and lower energy and alertness levels. Keep your relative safe by trusting an in-home caretaker to be your senior’s safe solution for always receiving proper nutrition.
Serve a Slice of Companion Care
Companion Care of Georgia is a locally owned and operated agency in South Georgia that strives to provide you and your loved ones with the elderly care that suits your needs. Our goal is to offer care that treats our clients with respect, dignity, and care. Our dedicated care professionals are here to provide non-medical care, personal assistance, and superior service for dependent individuals living at home.
Servicing clients in Appling, Bryan, Bulloch, Bleckley, Burke, Candler, Dodge, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Laurens, Montgomery, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen, Washington, Wilkinson & Wheeler Counties.
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