How do I feed a 95-year-old, who eats all the food in the refrigerator at one time?
Delivering food daily is tiring for her son. Help pls.
This 95-year-old woman is healthy, has no major health conditions except memory loss and she lives alone in an apartment. Her son brings food for the next day every evening because she loves food and will eat everything at once. She has caregivers who prepare lunch and dinner, as a way to ration her food consumption. Anything edible is put on a high shelf to prevent eating a whole box of cereal, cookies, oatmeal, etc. She is 4'9 and weighs about 90 lbs. We leave Cheerios l in a container on her kitchen counter so that she can eat at night. She has prepared meals delivered once a week. However, a caregiver must be there when they are delivered. Otherwise, she will eat two or three meals and desserts at one time. She loves sweets.
Parsing food this way is expensive, and we are not sure if she is getting enough to eat. I changed her diet, so she gets more protein and calories earlier in the day. But that has not eliminated her rapid consumption of a day's food at one time. IMO. She does not need all-day care yet because she is fit and agile.
I suggested buying a second refrigerator and putting a lock on it. Then her son or a caregiver could transfer the daily amount from one refrigerator to the one she uses. A second refrigerator would reduce the amount of time used in transporting food every day.
Has anyone faced this problem? Do you have suggestions for reducing the time allocated to delivering food? Thank you
And/or have her checked for a binge eating disorder. If she is living alone, she might be throwing up her food afterwards.
As I re-read your post I'm a little confused... she has caregivers prepare breakfast and lunch and her son is bringing a meal in the evening? So the problem is her eating the pantry bare in the evenings despite having a healthy snack available? Having a second frig and locked cupboard may work, but if she is determined she could probably find a way to break in to it, especially as she seems to have too little to occupy her in the evenings.
I wonder if she were to be moved to independent living or assisted living and be around people of her own age that she might stop that binge eating. Plus with some facilities she would need to go to the main dining room for food, thus wouldn't have a pantry full of food in her room.
Either she's stuffing herself or there's not much food in the frig. If the latter, than I'm not sure that the other statements are couched in fact either. Also, if the latter assumption is true, then perhaps she's not getting enough food in the first place. You raise this issue yourself.
Even if the frig is small, I find it impossible for someone to "eat all the food in the refrigerator."
I add that I write this because I think a more realistic explanation of the food situation will help with the answers, and from reading your posts in the past, you seem to be a logical, caring person, so I think you're not getting the straight facts from the caregivers or the son.
I'm also wondering about the caregivers who make lunch and dinner "as a way to ration her food consumption". And WHO made the determination that rationing food was necessary? Rationing food for a 95 year old woman seems a bit harsh to me.
I also can't help wondering if this woman is being given enough to eat at all, or whether the meals are in fact nutritious and varied or just junk food, like Cheerios.
I would never leave that for someone to eat - better something nutritious, even raisins and nuts, both of which are in fact nutritious and not just manufactured/processed food. I realize that a lot of people think cereal is healthy, and it can be if it's not processed and laden with sugar and chemicals.
You are wise to add more protein to her diet. I think she needs something else too, perhaps a well rounded diet. If she's binging, it could be because she's just not getting enough legitimate food, or it could also be an emotional issue.
Before I accept the conclusion that she's binging though, I think more information needs to be provided on the meals that she's getting. If they're just something like hot dogs and deli meat, no wonder she's hungry.
You query yourself if she's getting enough to eat when the meals are parsed out as they are. I think that's your clue right there - something's going on which isn't satisfying her. The question is what.
In addition, I sense as have others that this poor woman is alone for most of her day. Eating may be a compensation for lonliness.
Is she ever taken out, to a senior center, to the library, to a concert, so she can interact with others?
I would certainly consult with her doctor to rule out certain things. If it is OCD, medication might help her.
As a paid caregiver, I can only advise her son. But I have considered contacting the son's eldercare attorney about this situation.
Someone else pointed out that her mother is similar and it is a compulsive behavior.