Planning for holiday meals

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and you may be considering how to meet the needs of a family member or friend living with dementia to help them safely enjoy a holiday meal.

Holiday meals offer a meaningful chance for people living with dementia and their care partners to connect with family and friends — but sitting down to eat a meal can bring some unique challenges.

Dementia can affect someone’s ability to eat, drink and get enjoyment from their food. Some factors that can cause people living with dementia to experience difficulty eating and drinking are:

• Forgetting how to prepare a meal
• Having challenges with using utensils
• Not knowing what to do with the food that is placed in front of them
• Putting too much food in their mouth at once
• Eating too quickly
• Trying to swallow without chewing
• Trying to eat inedible items

Poor appetite can also affect someone living with dementia’s ability to eat, so when hosting or attending a family dinner, try to focus on the social interactions rather than on how much they eat.

Some things to consider to make mealtime more comfortable and enjoyable are:

• Limit distractions – serve meals in quiet surroundings, away from the television and other distractions
• Keep the table setting simple – avoid patterned plates, tablecloths and placemats that may be confusing, and provide only the utensils needed for the meal to avoid confusion
• Distinguish food from the plate – it can help to use plates or bowls that contrast the colour of the food and placemat
• Check the food temperature – dementia may affect someone’s ability to recognize if something is too hot to eat or drink
• Offer one food item at a time – serving one or two things at a time can be helpful
• Allow plenty of time to eat – not rushing allows the person to savour the food. Also, take into consideration any mobility problems that can slow down eating
• Eat together – keeping a meal social can encourage them to eat
• Prepare foods so that they aren’t hard to chew or swallow – cut food into bite-sized pieces, or serve soft foods

By caring, prompting and adapting a holiday meal, you can help someone living with dementia get the most out of their time with family and friends and safely enjoy food and drink.

Learn more about how dementia impacts mealtimes and nutrition by visiting the Alzheimer Society of Canada website.