Do you know how to compassionately adapt to residents’ changing eating needs or preferences as they approach the end of their life?
Residents in long-term care (LTC) often experience changes in their food and fluid intake. This change can be part of the natural end-of-life journey or a result of underlying health conditions that make eating difficult or undesirable.
Our Comfort Care resource, created by the Ontario CLRI at the RIA, aims to ease the physical and emotional factors associated with eating challenges in LTC homes. By prioritizing resident comfort and adapting to their changing needs, comfort care supports a more dignified and compassionate end-of-life experience.
The Comfort Care resource includes three informational guides, one-pagers and printable brochures that provide families, residents and care providers with the basic principles of the comfort care approach and tips on changing perspectives around food intake, eating-related changes and mouth care.
Acknowledgements
This work is developed by Jill Koechl, PhD under the supervision of Prof. Heather Keller, RD PhD (Nutrition & Aging, University of Waterloo/Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging), in collaboration with the Ontario CLRI.
