How Should You Respond to Offers of Help with Food for Your Elderly Loved One?
When you’re already as busy as you can be, planning and cooking your loved one’s meals can seem like an impossible task. So if people are offering to help with food for your elderly loved one, let them! Here are some ways they can help.
Invite People to Bring Dinner Over
Many times you might not be sure how or when to have people over who want to visit your elderly loved one. Try combining the visit with a meal, which helps you to solve two situations at once. When you let them know to bring dinner, or even part of dinner over, you’re able to worry a little less about at least part of the meal and also know that your loved one is going to have some visitors.
Let Others Know about Dietary Restrictions
When you do accept offers of help with food for your loved one, make sure that the people making the meals know about any dietary restrictions that your loved one has. You can also make a generic list that you can pre-emptively send to everyone who might offer to help with food. This ensures that everyone has the details that they need to be able to provide the right food for your elderly loved one.
Ask Other Family Members to Pick up a Few Things from the Grocery Store
Another option is to ask friends, neighbors, and other family members to bring back a few things when they go to the grocery store. If they’ll already be there, they won’t be going out of their way and you can get the items you need without having to leave your loved one to do it. With time, this might even become a regular habit for the people who care about you.
The More You Say No, the Fewer Offers You’ll Get
A strange little law kicks into effect at some points in your life and dealing with offers of help is one of those times. The more that you decline help with your loved one’s meals, the less help you’ll get over time. This is because people offer because they genuinely want to help. By continually declining that help, you reduce the likelihood that they’ll continue to offer.
Talk to your family members and to your loved one’s elder care providers about the best ways to help ensure your elderly loved one gets the nutrition that she needs.
If you or an aging loved one are considering home health care in Deerfield Beach, FL or the surrounding areas to provide companionship, compassion and motivation, please contact the caring staff at Responsive Home Care. Contact us today at 954-486-6440.
