“What are we doing? He would never want to live like this!”
For patients with advanced dementia, consider recommending feeding for comfort rather than medicalized nutrition. This means:
- Choosing foods that the patient responds to with pleasure
- Stopping feeding when disinterest develops
- Not setting calorie goals
- Not using nutritional shakes
- Allowing meals to be skipped when there is no interest in food
It means focusing on the social aspects of mealtime:
- Making conversation and eye contact
- Creating a pleasant space for eating
- Slowing down
View our Guide for Providing Comfort Feeding in Advanced Dementia, a hand-out for families and caregivers at facilities.
For more information contact Dr. Leslie Estep or Dr. Anita Meyer at Hospice of the Northwest, 360-814-5550, or [email protected] or [email protected]
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