I recently read an article on ways to start a conversation at mealtime with our older adults while sharing a meal together. At our assisted living cottages in The Woodlands, Spring, and Kingwood…breakfast, lunch, and dinner are often the time when all residents are at the table together and are able to talk about old times and current events too. I have experienced a wide range of questions and answers…(some have caught me off-guard too). Especially if someone is experiencing sadness or grief…asking how they are doing today could be a LOADED question. Since we know our residents so well, we know that they need ask questions that change their thought path from sad to happy. By asking “What’s the funniest thing you saw today?”, I have gotten so many different, hilarious answers. Amazing, how our own different approach redirects our friends and starts a totally different mealtime experience with our residents/guests. A TV program that they watched, or read in the newspaper, the wacky squirrels out the window, or the strange people outside at the local grocery store…you never know what they will think of next.
– Terri Buckholtz
