Cooking Under Pressure

The Home Instead Senior Care network is arming seniors and family
caregivers with nutrition resources for healthy aging.

Healthy aging is a goal we all share and, for seniors, a well-balanced diet
can be even more important. Good nutrition is the first line of defense for
older adults who are striving to maintain their independence as they age,
helping to protect them from illness and disease.

Achieving a well-balanced diet is not as easy as it sounds, though. The
physical limitations of aging often make shopping, cooking and dining a
challenge for many seniors who want to stay healthy.

Mobility problems aggravated by conditions such as arthritis can keep
seniors away from the grocery store where they would find healthy options
for their daily menus. Medications and certain illnesses often cause older
adults to lose their appetites. And the death of spouses and friends may
isolate seniors, leaving them with little interest in the pleasures of
dining at home or eating out at restaurants.

Inability to shop and cook can be major challenges to eating healthy,
especially among recently hospital-discharged older adults, said Dr. Nadine
Sahyoun, associate professor of Nutrition and Food Science in the University
of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, who has
extensively studied the impact of issues such as dental health, social
support and depression on seniors' diets. Physical functioning is very
important to the quality of food that is in the home and to the meals that
are prepared, she added.

Awareness begins with identifying the warnings signs that seniors are not
eating properly. These are the first alerts to warn family caregivers of the
potential hazards that their senior loved may be facing if they are not
eating properly.

Family caregivers have their own challenges. Their busy schedules helping
Mom and Dad with shopping and meal preparation often turn their lives into a
pressure cooker of stress. According to Home Instead Senior Care research:
An estimated 83 percent of family caregivers help with groceries or other
errands; 65 percent assist with meal preparation.

Cooking Under Pressuresm Program

The importance of nutrition to healthy aging is why Home Instead Senior Care
has launched the Cooking Under Pressure nutrition campaign. This program
provides education and support to seniors and their family members who are
sometimes stressed-out by the demands of caregiving.

Partnering with nutrition experts at the University of Maryland and Duke
Diet and Fitness Center (part of Duke University Medical Center), the
company has developed a handbook of nutrition tips as well as healthy and
interesting recipes that can spice it up for most any senior. The program
will assist family caregivers who want to get organized by providing
shopping tips and 12 food staples that older adults shouldn't live without.

What's more, Cooking Under Pressure will help seniors and their family
caregivers tune into the dangers of malnourishment, one of an older adult's
most deadly enemies. Now is a great time to wage the war on aging. It all
begins with great food and the support seniors need to make mealtimes a
pleasant and healthy experience.