This week marks the third consecutive UK Malnutrition Awareness Week, a successful nationwide campaign which seeks to raise awareness ofmalnutrition and advance the nutritional care of people at risk of poor diet.

Local care provider, Home Instead Senior Care seethis week as an ideal opportunityto spread the word about malnutrition in older people - often a big issue for our elderly.

Community Liaison Coordinator Rhea Cousins said: "It's not a one size fits all kind of issue. There are so many reasons why an older person might be at risk of malnutrition.

"It could be that an open conversation about your concerns is enough for your loved one to explain what the barriers are to them eating as well as they used to.

"However, sometimes we need to look a little deeper below the surface to work out what's going on.

"Consider physical issues like mobility problems and whether this could be causing difficulty with shopping or using the kitchen to prepare meals.

"Are dental problems making eating difficult? Is there a long-term condition such as dementia or Parkinson's Disease that might be causing problems such as difficulty swallowing, changes in appetite or even resulting in meals being missed altogether?

"Always encourage your loved one to speak to their GP in the first instance."

It is not just physical problems that can affect appetite, social and emotional changes can play a huge part too. Low mood is well known for causing reduced appetite.

Bereavement, such as the loss of a spouse or simply living alone can make people feel unmotivated when it comes to cooking for themselves.

"Sometimes we encounter people who have never really had to cook during their lives because their husband or wife always took the lead in the kitchen, but has now sadly passed away," Rhea continued.

"This might mean the surviving partner lacks the skills to prepare appetising and nutritious meals for themselves.

"We dug a little deeper to find out what friends and family should look out for if they are concerned an older loved one might not be eating as well as they could be," Rhea explained.

"There are a number of potential clues you might spot, with the most obvious being changes in weight - particularly weight loss. If you're noticing clothes or jewellery seem loose fitting, then this could be a sign.

"Other clues to look out for might be recurrent infections, a lack of energy, forgetfulness, digestion problems or generally not looking quite themselves, such as dull-looking skin.

"Once you've identified what the problem is, it's then a case of putting the support in place to fill the gaps.

"It might be that some help to plan and complete the shopping or exploring some of the meal home delivery services on offer is enough.

"Alternatively bringing in some additional support from a home care provider such as Home Instead might be the answer.

"We support many of our clients with meal preparation and pride ourselves on the high quality and unhurried meals we are able to prepare due to our visits being a minimum of an hour.

"This also means we are able to keep clients involved in the meal preparation process and provide the companionship that's so essential for mealtimes being a social and enjoyable experience."

Home Instead Exeter and East Devon have free publications available with further advice on nutrition for older people and also offer free community talks and workshops about staying nourished.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 they are able to offer these virtually via Zoom or similar platforms.

If you would like to access these resources or would like information on their home care services or current recruitment opportunities you can contact them on 01395 200600 or explore their website here.