Preparing Christmas Dinner for Someone With Swallowing Difficulties
Understanding Swallowing Difficulties (Dysphagia)
Swallowing difficulties, medically known as dysphagia, can make eating a challenging task. This condition can affect people of all ages, but it’s more common in older adults. Dysphagia is often associated with other conditions including Motor Neurone Disease (90%), Multiple Sclerosis (81%), and Alzheimer’s (75%), and can lead to malnutrition, dehydration, and even pneumonia. Therefore, it’s crucial to adapt meals to make them easier to swallow. As Christmas approaches, you may be wondering how to make the traditional Christmas dinner more accessible for someone with dysphagia. This article provides practical tips to make Christmas dinner easier to eat for someone with swallowing difficulties.
Starters: Soft and Savoury Options
Start your meal with options that are soft and easy to swallow. Starters like smooth pâtés, cream-based soups, or mashed vegetable dips are excellent choices. These can be flavoured with herbs and spices to enhance their taste without adding challenging textures.
Main Course: Modifying Traditional Dishes
The main course of a Christmas dinner typically features turkey, ham, or roast beef. To make these dishes safer for someone with swallowing difficulties, you should grind and finely chop the meat into manageable-sized pieces. Serve it with plenty of gravy or sauce to help moisten the food, making it easier to swallow. Additionally, modify side dishes like stuffing or vegetables by cooking them until they are soft and mashing or pureeing them. Aside from preserving the feeling of a ‘traditional’ Christmas dinner, it is important people with swallowing difficulties are encouraged to eat vegetables to maintain a balanced diet and prevent malnutrition.
Avoid serving foods that are hard, crunchy, or have small pieces that can be difficult to swallow.
Desserts: Smooth and Creamy Treats
Desserts can also be adapted to meet the needs of those with swallowing difficulties. Instead of cakes or biscuits, opt for moist, soft desserts such as puddings, mousses, or soft-baked apples. These sweet treats can be flavoured with traditional Christmas spices like cinnamon or nutmeg to maintain the festive spirit.
Using Thickeners for Liquids
People with swallowing difficulties often find it hard to swallow thin liquids, so it is important to thicken beverages served during Christmas dinner. You can use commercial thickeners available online and in-store to thicken drinks like juice, water, and even wine. Remember to follow the instructions on the packaging to achieve the right consistency. People with dysphagia and swallowing difficulties can drink alcohol but it is recommended to monitor intake as alcohol can dry the mouth and throat as well as cause dehydration.
Making it a comfortable eating experience
It’s not just about preparing food in the right manner but also the environment. Ensure that the person with swallowing difficulties is sat on a comfortable chair, seated upright at a 90-degree angle. Maintaining good posture is important to aid the journey of the food into the stomach, this upright position should be maintained 30 minutes after eating to ensure the food has travelled correctly.
It’s also important to give the person plenty of time to eat at a pace that is comfortable for them and put no pressure on them to talk whilst eating as it can make it more difficult to swallow.
By following these top tips, Christmas dinner should be relaxing, safe and enjoyable for all whilst maintaining the essence of long-standing food-related tradition.
Are you in need of additional support this Christmas?
To find out how Abbots Care can offer additional support to you or your loved one this Christmas period, click here.
