What is food nostalgia and how can it help seniors?
Melinda Boyd, assistant professor of nutrition and public health at Cedar Crest College, whets our appetite.
Melinda Boyd is an assistant professor of nutrition and public health at Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Her higher-education teaching experience includes teaching courses in clinical nutrition, public health, community nutrition, public policy, culture & ethics, sports nutrition, vitamins and minerals, and evidence analysis research courses. Professor Boyd is currently teaching graduate-level courses in medical nutrition therapy, sports nutrition, nutrition and non-communicable diseases, and other public-health courses.
She earned undergraduate degrees in both biology and nutrition science, Master’s degrees in Public Health and in Human Relations, and she earned a Doctorate in Clinical Nutrition (DCN) from Rutgers University in 2018.
Food Nostalgia
Nutrition is important across the human lifespan, but especially as we age. However, it is not uncommon for anyone caring for an older parent or for a patient in a senior-care setting, to encounter challenges, even tension around mealtimes.
Concerns about not eating, about lack of appetite or weight loss, are often part of the conversation.
When this became an issue with my own grandparents, my academic focus on nutrition shifted to take a closer look at the concept of “food nostalgia” as an effective approach to improve food intake among older adults—and as a way to encourage seniors to embrace better eating.
Originally coined to mean “homesickness” nostalgia reflects a sentimental yearning. In recent years, research in many fields has shown that connecting seniors with a past period in their lives in a positive way can play a helpful role in healthy aging and eldercare.
Asking a senior to describe what they consider to be an example of a “comfort food” can be a good start. Perhaps they’ll mention some of the foods they ate when growing up or that had some family significance. Often, they will share a memory or offer a reflection on a food tied to their own culture.
In my grandparents’ case, much of their food nostalgia was linked to the Jewish traditions in which they were born and raised. As their caregivers were originally from Haiti, asking them to share memories and details of some of these comfort foods with them proved to be an effective way to build conversation and bring understanding to the table.
It is a helpful concept for those who work in long-term senior care to consider. If we can make menus that accommodate the memories and culture of patients, we might actually find that they are more responsive to food options and less likely to struggle at mealtime.
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