Eating and Drinking – a guide to support a person with Dementia

We are delighted to announce the launch of a new resource – “Eating and Drinking – a guide to support a person with Dementia”.

For many people with dementia and their families, mealtimes can become a stressful time. It can be upsetting to see someone we care for losing interest in eating, forgetting how to eat or losing weight. This guide was developed for family members and carers to help support a person with dementia to enjoy their food and mealtimes in a safe and comforting way.

The guide provides suggestions for mealtimes, taste changes, weight loss, nourishing foods and drinks, constipation, swallowing difficulties, and other dietary concerns. The guide is divided into parts, meaning it can act as a “go to” guide to read over time rather than reading it all at once.

This 2025 version is the 3rd edition of the guide, and has been developed by a subgroup of the Dietitians of the Older Persons Nutrition Interest Group (OPNIG) working with Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Nursing colleagues, and was kindly supported and funded by Alzheimer Society of Ireland (ASI).
The guide was originally developed by the OPNIG in association with the HSE National Dementia Education project in 2016.

The resource will be available for download from the websites of the Irish Nutrition and Dietetic Institute here the Alzheimer Society www.alzheimer.ie/get-support/resources-and-factsheets, and the HSE.

Printed copies will also be available through both the ASI and healthpromotion.ie.