It's that time of year, isn't it? Everyone is making their pronouncements of how they will change-- become a better person, loose weight, try something new--you know the routine. Of course, changes like this can be especially difficult if we don't have the right support from our families, friends and even our workplaces. When you live in a nursing home setting a goal for weight loss is equally as difficult and sometimes additional challenges present themselves. Meals in a nursing home are planned with each resident so that everyone gets the calories they need to gain, loose, or maintain weight depending on individual goals. Of course, for many families and friends, the act of sharing a meal or food doesn't end just because one of us lives at a nursing home. This means that the three meals perfectly planned with the dietician don't include the care packages, the bag of goodies from a favorite fast food joint shared with visiting friends or the meal out with the kids. This can add up to a lot of extra calories and weight gain for someone who had intended to lose weight this year.
At Good Samaritan, we identified this challenge for some of our residents and set about to create a support and education group to help residents meet their goals. We call it Healthy Choices. Last year, the first year, the group met three times. I had the pleasure of attending two of the final sessions to celebrate their success. We talked of what everyone had accomplished and what was still ahead. We even talked about how we could be more supportive in our food menu choices and how the program could grow and develop.
I'm looking forward to our next Healthy Choices group and the growing programs and systems of support. I hope that Healthy Choices can be part of even more residents support as they challenge themselves with new years resolutions.
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