The Essential Carer's Guide to Dementia by Mary Jordan

Author:Mary Jordan [Mary Jordan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781610503
Publisher: Hammersmith Books Limited
Published: 2014-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Case study: Margaret

Margaret is an 82-year-old woman with dementia. She lives alone and her main carer is her daughter Sally, who is the youngest daughter in the family and who lives nearby. Sally also looks after her husband, who is disabled, and her teenage children. Sally is worried about Margaret’s diet because Margaret is no longer able to cook and Sally believes that she does not eat regularly.

Sally believes that a proper diet which incorporates three meals a day and plenty of fruit and vegetables is essential. In order to work out whether this is so, we need to look at the facts. We check that Margaret is not losing weight. (Although Margaret resists being weighed, Sally confirms that Margaret’s usual clothes still fit her: they are no looser or tighter than previously – so she hasn’t gained any weight either.) Apart from the dementia, Margaret is normally healthy and does not have an excessive number of colds or infections.

We can conclude therefore that Margaret’s diet is not so bad that she is losing weight or becoming ill. However, Sally would like to ensure that Margaret stays well so we conclude that paying attention to Margaret’s diet is important.

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