Getting older can make it more difficult to prepare meals, work up an appetite, and stay properly nourished. Visiting Angels, Medina, Ohio’s number one provider of quality home care and elder care services, has caregivers that will encourage your elderly loved one to eat while preserving their independence. They're here to offer the following tips on encouraging healthy eating habits in senior citizens:

• Make meal times a social opportunity: When it's time to make breakfast, lunch, or dinner, the process of making the meal is a great time to encourage independence and be social. Encourage your loved one to help set the table, prepare ingredients, or clean up after the meal. This turns the mealtime into an experience rather than a task.
• Foster independence by giving your loved one choices: Instead of just making a meal for your loved one, give them the choice of what they'd like to eat. For example, "Would you like more salt in your soup?" is a great way to get them to focus on food and feel independent by playing a part in the preparation of their meal. If they have trouble using forks and knives, make them small finger foods that they can easily eat by themselves.
• Make meal times a routine: If your loved one has always practiced a routine during meals (saying grace, for example), keep this routine in place. If they skipped breakfast every day in favor of a bigger brunch later in the morning, then don't force them to eat breakfast; make them the big brunch that they're used to.

Caregivers from Visiting Angels are great at turning mealtime from something that many people see as a chore to an opportunity to foster independence and make clients feel at home by following their routines and preferences. Call Visiting Angels of Medina, OH at (330) 723-0300 or visit their website to learn more about in home care for seniors and how they can encourage your loved one to develop comfortable and healthy eating habits.