Feeding the Person with Alzheimer’s Using
Finger Foods
Why Finger Foods?
 Mealtime is often a challenge for the person with AD.
Maintaining good nutrition can help prevent weight loss,
skin breakdown, infections, and falls. Eating a healthy diet
and consuming foods high in vitamins and minerals is necessary
to maintain the ability to perform daily activities, and
to prevent depression.
However, a person with dementia
often has trouble remembering to eat. Your loved one may
have a poor appetite, trouble swallowing, or a loss of interest
in food. He or she may become agitated easily, making it
difficult for them to sit still long enough to eat.
Your goal as the caregiver is to provide nutritious foods
to eat, while maximizing the person’s independence.
Finger foods are perfect for people with dementia who
like to wander or have difficulty using utensils. Providing
these foods will enable them to feed themselves, therefore
boosting their self-esteem.
What is a Finger Food?
Any bite-size food that you can pick up and eat yourself
qualifies as a finger food. French fries and mozzarella
sticks may come to mind, assuming all finger foods are
high in fat, with little nutritional value. Creativity is the
key to making fork and knife foods into finger foods,
while keeping them tasty and nutritious.
Finger Food Suggestions
| |
Meat, Fish & Poultry |
Grains |
| |
Chicken nuggets
Chicken fingers
Chicken strips
Hard-boiled egg (can cut into
quarters)
Fish sticks
Sandwiches cut in quarters
Bite size pieces of tofu
(vegetarian) |
Rice cakes
Bread sticks
Waffles
Soft cereal bars
French toast sticks
Graham crackers |
| |
|
|
| |
Dairy |
Fruits & Veggies |
| |
Cheese cubes or strips
String cheese
Grilled cheese cut in squares |
Cut fresh fruit (peel off skin if the person has
difficulty chewing)
Vegetables cooked well, such as broccoli,
carrots, cauliflower, and zucchini
Potato wedges |
Tips
- Patience is a virtue. Give the person you are caring for plenty of time to eat. It may take
him or her twice as long to eat as it would yourself.
- Consider food
preferences. He
or she may have
had a favorite
food all their life,
but
refuses to eat it now. This is common. Learn their
new likes and dislikes.
- Consider their ability to chew and swallow properly.
- Encouragement is important. The person may need to
be reminded all day long to
take little bites in order to
consume the amount of calories their body needs.
- Serving foods at room temperature may help you to
prepare foods in advance.
- Try to be realistic, and learn their limitations.
- Put yourself in their shoes.
- Encourage adequate fluid intake.
- Consider adaptive equipment for eating and drinking.
- Be creative when it comes to mealtime. There is no
written rule that says food must
be eaten with a knife
and fork.
This is the 3rd in a series of articles on the nutritional and feeding needs of
persons with AD. If you have specific nutritional questions, please submit them
to Patricia Slinger-Harvey at Pslinger@GLWD.org or Jed Levine at Jlevine@alznyc.org.
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