Carers UK has released a new report with the support of Nutricia that will provide new insight on unpaid carers’ views and priorities when caring for relatives and friends who are underweight or overweight.
Diet, nutrition and hydration is an under-recognised issue across the UK, but better and earlier interventions, information, advice and support could transform the lives of people needing care as well as their families who support them.
Using the results of nearly 8,000 unpaid carers, our results found that:
- One in seven carers (14%) were caring for someone with a disability or illness who was underweight.
- 39% of carers were caring for someone who was overweight.
- A large proportion of carers worry about the diet and nutrition of the person being cared for – between half of all carers to eight out of ten depending on the area of worry.
- Carers of people who were underweight were most likely to be worried about diet, nutrition and hydration.
- Those most likely to be underweight tended to be older people, the carers’ parents or parents- in-law and not living with the carer.
The report provides key recommendations that are deliverable and achievable across different health and care structures as well as through services in the UK, regardless of where the carer and the person being cared for lives. These include overarching recommendations relating to diet and nutrition as well as specific recommendations to support carers of people who are underweight or overweight.
The full report can be found here.
2 Likes
For my son, now 20 stone, the GP does the annual health check and gives it to the provider. I’m ignored. LD Health say they’ve done a mental capacity assessment. I was not present, no minutes provided. He knows what is healthy food so no action, he has capacity in in their eyes. Only a recommendation that they cut portion size of meals, totally the wrong advice, he needed MORE veg, not carbs. He grew up on home grown organic veg. However, staff feed him things like sausage and mash. No veg! He put on 6lbs in one week, anothe week he ate 34 Weetabix. No action taken. It’s actually agency staff that need training, after all if they fed him a decent meal he wouldn’t want to snack.
A few weeks ago I asked SSD who is ultimately responsible. Complaints Officer (yes, the same one!) told me “no one”. On Friday, he said it was SSD’s responsibility. All very well, but without any allocated care manager, how does that work in practice?!
S is the same, however if the choice is different flavours of pasty for college lunch ….
This is so true. At S’s last non-review when I raise his weight and healthy eating the deputy manager said they needed to do some healthy eating education with the guys - umm no - it’s the staff who needed the training - in how to shop and cook. Instead of buying cheap Aldi pasties, nuggets, burgers, chips etc and bunging them in the oven day after day - they need to learn how to make simple nutritious meals.
S knows more about this than them and he eats healthy, balanced meals at home. He loves cooking - I wish they utilise his skills.
He is still gaining weight because of the rubbish he eats at college.
On Friday he only did 2560 steps from the time he got up until the time I picked him up in the afternoon! I did more and I spent a lot of Friday driving.
Same here. My adult daughter has been slowly losing weight while I’ve been supporting her this last nineteen months after a care agency breakdown. Her weight went up to eighteen stone with them, sausage and mash, chips and burgers, white bread etc… She loves lots of veg and is happy with a reduction in carbs. Tried a new agency last week, straight out and spent £14.70 on a meal and soft drink, which she vomited straight back ! Then later went for a happy meal !! Staff will sit and talk for half an hour about ordering nail stickers for her but will not chop a few veg. I have to clear her fridge of wilted stuff. So frustrating.