Nutritional status, Patterns, and Opportunities for health promotion

In the appointment with my client A.B., we discussed her nutritional status, patterns, and opportunities for health promotion. Through subjective questioning, I determined that A.B. is a 65-year-old female who lives alone in her apartment.

When asked about meal patterns and traditions, she stated that she loves having big family dinners but, related to COVID and social distancing, she tends to be alone for most meals.

Because of this, she has lost the desire to cook meals regularly and resorts to convenience meals like toast and peanut butter, bacon and eggs, or frozen dinners. She says her daughter “nags” her about her intake though and has bought her a blender in which she prepares a fruit and yogurt smoothie every morning before work.

A.B.’s nutritional intake is low in protein, iron, and calcium, and is high in sodium and sugar intake. We talked about goal setting and A.B. reiterated again that she missed cooking for her family. Together we decided that this week, she would prepare a nutritious meal for her family which she will drop off on their doorstep.

While doing this, she will keep two servings aside for herself – we discussed safe ways to freeze meals to keep for later. She is looking forward to this opportunity to prepare a meal for her family. We will meet next week to follow up.