Articles

Nutrition and Palliative Care

19/09/2016

As a live in carer you will one day be with a client who is approaching the End of Life. This stage is called the Palliative Care stage. It can be very distressing for your client, most certainly for the family and also to you as a carer. You will bear the brunt of taking care of your client's needs.

It will become very difficult for you as carer to watch as your client – who used  to love Sunday lunch – to loose their appetite. You might feel very frustrated because the food you so lovingly prepare is no longer eaten with relish. Your efforts will seem to be in vain as far as feeding your client is concerned. All these feelings are perfectly normal. Many people will lose their appetites as they approach the Palliative Care stage in their lives. As a carer it will be hard for you to watch your client lose weight. It could well be that they actually feel ill and food does not improve this condition.

You can help your client by taking some things into consideration. Try to include more foods that are high in protein and calories. You may or may not succeed in this but it is not the time to be counting calories. Your client should be encouraged to eat exactly what they want as more than likely this will be all they will eat. Tastes will change and you might find that your client no longer enjoys savoury food such as Shepherds Pie, but will gladly eat jelly and ice cream.

It is never a good idea to force food on your client at this stage. They will be more inclined to throw up anything that disagrees with them. Better to offer small portions of things that they enjoy now and will keep down. You should offer small portions more frequently instead of three times a day.

Ice cream is easy to swallow as it is cool and might soothe a dry throat. Custard is good as is apple puree which has been sweetened. Jelly will be easy to swallow. Things like toast might not be the best idea as they are dry and your client may choke.

Should your client have a very dry mouth you might try offering some ice cubes flavoured with lemon juice to suck on. Be sure to apply lip balm to dry lips.

Avoid spicy foods now, stick to bland foods. This will be hard for you as a carer a your instinct is to tempt your client with tasty morsels. Using a plastic spoon with prevent your client from tasting metal. Any soup that your client will eat should be pureed and smooth, avoid chunks as they could choke. Fluid intake is important although at this stage keeping your client comfortable and pain free is at the forefront.

If you are in any doubt as to what to feed your client at this stage, you must not hesitate in calling either the District Nurse or the Doctor.