For most seniors, it’s not what’s on their plates that matters most at mealtime, it’s who is at the table. That’s the message Home Instead Senior Care is sending with our Sunday Dinner Pledge program as we encourage families to bring back the Sunday dinner and make mealtime with friends and loved ones a positive experience for all generations.
Research conducted by Home Instead Inc. indicates that the frequency of sit-down dinners with senior relatives has decreased for a majority of families. Half of surveyed families feel they do not have enough sit-down dinners with their senior relatives who live near them. Only four of 10 families with senior relatives living close by currently share Sunday dinners on a multigenerational level. Conflicting schedules and time constraints were reported as the biggest barriers to having regular, weekly sit-down meals with a senior loved one. Families do, however, recognize the importance of sharing meals to improve a senior’s quality of life, and their intentions are to spend time with them. The vast majority of North American families surveyed feel that shared sit-down family dinners could help seniors overcome loneliness, loss of friends or loved ones, depression, health issues, poor diets and encourage seniors to share any problems they may have. Family members also agreed that eating with multigenerational family members is a good way to reconnect and build stronger bonds among younger and older family members.
So how can we make this motivation a reality?
Take the Sunday Dinner Pledge
Go to www.sundaydinnerpledge.com and pledge to bring your family together once a month for Sunday dinner. For every signed pledge, Home Instead Senior Care will donate $1, up to a total of $20,000, to Meals on Wheels America to deliver meals to seniors in need nationwide.
6 Ways to Include Seniors in Mealtimes
- Check in with your older adults before dinner and ask them to select a favorite recipe that you could serve. If there’s a story behind the recipe, ask your senior loved one to share it at dinner.
- Make sure a senior has transportation to and from the family dinner. Also, be sure to make any special food, seating or bathroom accommodations that might be needed.
- If your older loved one is up to it, ask him or her to arrive early. Perhaps your older adult can still peel potatoes or frost the cake. If nothing else, suggest he or she sit and chat while you’re cooking or give advice from the sidelines.
- Seat you loved one in a place where they are most likely to participate in the conversation. Ask your senior family member to say grace.
- Set aside time for your older loved one to share a story from his or her life or tell about something interesting that has happened recently.
- Ask children in the group to bring something special for your senior such as a handmade card or a school project to show.
Top 5 Activities to Enhance Your Sunday Dinner
- Poll your Sunday dinner group and choose a movie to watch. Show the grandkids the programs you watched as a youngster using Netflix or online services. Or ask the younger generation to share a movie from their collection.
- Make a list of family members’ favorite desserts. Ask someone to volunteer to make a family favorite.
- Plan some time at dinner to discuss your next family getaway.
- Share a hobby. If you’ve taken up walking, and the weather is nice, ask all family members to join you on a stroll through the neighborhood, helping those who need a hand to participate.
- Discuss your family tree. Go to one of many ancestry websites to explore your heritage, which is likely to help initiate conversations for many family dinners to come.
Meals at Restaurants
If you want to mix things up, consider meeting at a favorite local restaurant instead of preparing a meal at home. Here are some things to consider when arranging for a meal in the community:
- Before selecting a restaurant, scope of the accessibility of the establishment. If a senior loved one has trouble walking, check out the number of steps required or the accommodation of a wheelchair or walker.
- If you have a large group, consider scheduling at a restaurant with a meeting room. A quiet room will be more conducive to seniors with hearing problems or dementia.
- Review menus online. Consider not only food choices but the cost and who is paying for dinner.
If you live far from your senior loved one, but still want them to benefit from meals with a companion, call Home Instead Senior Care today at 270-842-7540 to arrange for a CAREGiver to plan, prepare and share meals with seniors.
