Having a hand in the kitchen
Betty had stopped cooking proper meals and was finding it difficult to manage on her own. With some assistance from our kitchen and with some help from us in hers, we made sure that she regained her confidence and continued to eat well to be strong and healthy in her own home.
When Betty's friends began to tell her that she was losing a lot weight and they were concerned for her, she did not know what she was going to do. She no longer felt like cooking full meals for just one person each day, and getting variety and tasty options seemed too difficult.
Her GP had referred her to be assessed for home care a while ago, but she did not see how that was going to help her situation. She was mobile, still drove her own car, and could do all her shopping without any assistance, but she knew that she needed help to keep her on track with keeping well.
When she went back into her GP to see if there was any other reason she was losing weight and he had checked that there was no medical issue he could find, he asked her again about home care. She was frustrated, because he had kept referring her for this but did not think she needed it.
Her GP then explained that through a home care package, she would have access to help with her meals. She would be able to have people come into her home to help her plan healthy, nutritious meals and help her to be motivated to cook by helping her cook. Finally convinced that this was something she did need, she got in touch with us.
When the nurse assessed Betty she was thin and frail, and while still mobile it was identified that she needed some help. In understanding her goals of gaining a weight and eating well, she choose services that she felt could help.
We had our dietitian Jess visit Betty and recommend a diet and supplements to support her intake, and how they could make the most out of the time she had available with her support workers to achieve her goals. Being on a pension, Jess understood the need to consider her budget and so recommended recipes for food that Betty liked that could be cooked in bulk and frozen for the week ahead.
With this direction from the dietitian, each week Betty would plan her meals and shop on her own and then come home to cook up a storm with her support worker. She found that having a companion to cook with made the dull task go a bit faster and it was nice to have so many meals available during the week between visits.
We also arranged a weekly delivery of four meals from our kitchen at Clarence Estate to ensure that she got a bit more variety from her bulk-cooked meals.
Giving Betty a hand in the kitchen helped her to achieve her goals of maintaining her health and staying well in her own home.