Mom is living in a nursing home due to a car accident. Mild dementia is the dx right now. She wants out all the time and accuses me of placing her in the nursing home against her wants. She went from living privately in her own house to a nursing home due to her accident, several surgeries, and injuries. She basically has no control over anything any more and this annoys her too. So she has decided not to eat as much as she should and is losing weight. The nursing home has contacted me about this weight loss due to the fact that if she continues to not eat her body will shut down and that's the end. I've brought in some of her past favorites to munch on but since she resents me for putting her in the nursing home she is controlling this issue too by not eating it. The staff and her doctor have tried protein shakes and my mother refuses to take any pills due to her paranoia of this too. Any suggestions as to how I can stimulate her to eat more?
The next step I would suspect, would be a feeding tube, and I'm sure she wouldn't tolerate that. There is not a whole lot that can be done once an elderly person refuses to eat. I hope this helps. Good luck Redplum!
In fact a moderate amount of unsaturated fats, particularly those in oily fish, nuts, seeds and olive oil her diet will be of particular benefit to her rheumatoid arthritis and heart problems, and shouldn't adversely affect her gall bladder condition.