Essay Describe How And When To Seek Guidance About An Individual's Choice Of Food And Drink

Name : Zoe Hunt

Workplace : Apex Prime Care

228 – Eating and Drinking

1/Describe ways to resolve any concerns about the choice of food and drink

It is important to understand an individual’s preferences when dealing with concerns about the choice of food and drink. Ideally the clients care plan should be detailed with information on how we can effectively assist them with meal preparation. In order to provide person-centred care we must respect the individual’s choice of what they would like to eat and where possible, provide options. Our aim is to always try and find a healthy nutritional and balanced meal for our clients to eat and encouragement can be given when necessary.

Sometimes we find that our clients have poor appetites for example. It can be overwhelming if the individual is given a large plate of food and it may help them to eat a smaller

For example: You may notice that a client is coughing or choking on their food at meal times. These issues should be reported to your team leader or manager so that they can refer the individual for further assessments. This allows for the care plan to be updated to meet the individual’s needs.

3/Describe factors that promote an individual’s dignity, comfort and enjoyment while eating

We find that an individual’s food choices are often influenced by a range of different factors such as tradition or habits. We often meet a diverse group of individuals who all eat and drink in different ways but we always aim to ensure that we are promoting the individual’s identity. There are many ways we can do this. An example of this could be: offering a spoon if the client is struggling to manage with a knife and folk or by asking if we could assist by cutting the food into more manageable