Mealtime Made Easier with Home Medical Supplies with Helios Medical Equipment
Our job is to make lives easier for people living in and around Tampa. Home medical supplies aren’t just about treatment and recovery; many of the things we carry at Helios simply facilitate the kind of ease everyone should have with day-to-day life.
The Challenges of Eating
Unfortunately, mealtime can be especially difficult, both physically and emotionally, when you have certain conditions. Dexterity, fine motor skills, even swallowing—these seemingly basic skills become harder with age and illness. Not only does this inhibit nutrition, it takes away from the basic pleasure of food and can turn mealtimes into a source of shame instead.
Aids for Daily Living (ADL)
But there are plenty of basic, low-tech, easy-to-use products out there that can alleviate these mealtime issues. With Aids for Daily Living (ADL), Tampa seniors and other southwest Floridians having trouble at mealtimes can eat more independently with ease and fewer spills.
Here are some basic eating ADL adaptive eating tools and how they can help.
Adaptive Utensils
Among the biggest issues Tampa seniors and those with disabilities can have with eating is holding onto and maneuvering silverware. Our typical lightweight, thin-handled utensils require strength and dexterity in the hands, as well as smooth muscle control throughout the arms and torso.
Solutions include utensils with thicker, heavier handles (the additional weight helps to smooth muscle movement) and, in some cases, bendable material that allows you to use the utensils from a more comfortable angle. There are also adaptive utensils with straps to keep them in place on your hand, or cuffs to keep the hand closed around the utensil.
Adaptive Plates and Bowls
Even something as simple as a plate can present challenges. Our typical plates sport no sides, or low, sloped sides, providing nothing against with the diner can push the food to get it onto a fork or spoon. At the same time, various parts of the meal become mixed together and even harder to manipulate. And people with visual impairment may lose track of where various foods are located on the plate in front of them.
Plates and bowls may also slide around on the table as you use them. And of course, spills and/or broken dishes are always a concern.
Here are some adaptive dishes to ease these struggles.
Scoop Dishes: Unlike standard flat plates or bowls with rounded lips, scoop dishes have high, sometimes convex sides that provide a barrier for corralling food.
Divided Plates: Multiple compartments on the same plate keep food separate and easier to identify.
Non-slip Plates: Rubber pads or suction cups keep the plate in place as you eat.
Spill-proof Bowls: Convex sides or even gyroscopic designs keep the contents in the dish itself.
The Wide World of Adaptive Mealtime Tools
And this is just the beginning. For people in need of ADL cooking and mealtime home medical supplies, Tampa Bay’s Helios provides a broad range of solutions. Not sure what you need? Call or come talk to our skilled staff about the troubles you or your loved one is having with cooking or eating. We can help you navigate your many options and ensure an easier, more independent, and ultimately more enjoyable time at the dinner table.