Tips for caregivers cooking for seniors recovering from surgery
January 11, 2011
Patients who have recently undergone surgery or are recovering from an injury sometimes can’t cook for themselves, which means that the duty often falls onto caregivers. The Detroit News recently shared tips for those who are cooking for a senior who may be unable to prepare food for themselves.
1. Respect a senior’s privacy – Many times, a patient may not feel like seeing guests. Make sure to call and arrange a specific time to arrive and drop off the meals. And remember, dropping off food doesn’t count as a visit.
2. Prepare Comfort Foods – Comfort foods have the name for a reason. Try to cook an individual’s favorite meal so that they have something to take their minds off the recovery process.
3. Install A Personal Emergency Response System – One of the many styles of medical alert systems can be very useful for a patient who is living alone and may experience a regular recurrence of symptoms or is physically weak, because it allows them to instantly send a medical alert if they require assistance.
4. Arrange Meal Drop-Offs with Family Members – Everyone in the family may want to get together and give meals to a recovering person, but make sure that this doesn’t become overwhelming for the recipient.
