Please can anyone help? I'm so upset and so worried about my mum❤️She is in a dementia home now as her care needs became beyond me; used to look after her at home & gave up my job. Mum recently had pneumonia and she's recovering quite well now & eating/drinking until the dementia nurse said the way she is given drinks is wrong ie with a fruit juicecarton /straw ..we put it to her mouth & if she doesn't suck we squeeze it a tiny bit to dispense a little liquid in there to then get her to realise it's a drink & she sucks away. The nurse said this is wrong and may cause her to take fluid in her lung so now they are putting a glass to her mouth...she won't drink this way. Please help me ...please xx thank you everyone
Mum end stage dementia
- Thread starter PaulaP1111
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I think I would ask for an urgent SALT assessment anyway just to check that her nutrition is being delivered in the right way = they can refer and get a fast response. It is very difficult for some people to coordinate to suck through a straw - suprisingly it needs quite a lot of coordination and use of muscles too. She needs some hydration tho or complications will kick in and recovery will be much slower. Definitely get an outside assessment
Yes, as fizzie says your mum needs a SALT assessment. Its quite possible that your Mum can still drink safely this way or that an adapted straw would work well (these straws allow you to only take small sips) but its a complicated business and an expert assessment is needed. I'm not blaming the nurse - as a general rule of thumb straws and frail people don't necessarily go well together but everyone is individual and needs to be assessed as such
Hope all goes well
Hope all goes well
Try a " suckie" or " Sippy" cup ( like the Tommy Tippee type cups) They worked for my Mum with the added advantage of not spilling.
