Nutrition coaching and support for carers of elders at home

Jo Pannabecker, Dietitian

Help your elder thrive with the right nutrition

Many families are caring for elderly parents, grandparents, whanāu and friends.

We want our elders to age with dignity and to continue as valued members of our family and society. They may live with us or we may be supporting them to remain independent in their own home.

Nutrition is a key part of their care. 


Elders At My Table provides nutrition coaching and support for carers of elders at home

There’s a lot of interest in managing frailty, malnutrition and food quality in care homes and hospitals, but little proactive support available for families and carers looking after their elders at home.

This is where Elders At My Table can help.

We know elders want to remain independent and usually prefer to live in their own home or with whanāu. Living well in older age relies on maintaining good health, and good health is driven by good nutrition.

We all need to change up our food choices as we age to stay healthy, hold off frailty and maintain our independence. Aging often affects our ability to enjoy and utilise our food, so our diets need to adapt to work around those changes. 

Food is more than just nutrition

It holds our culture, values, history and relationships. 

Dietary changes need to be meaningful and enjoyable, and not just good clinical practice. This challenge alone can make nutrition care complicated!

Carers deserve the support they need to keep their elder safely and enjoyably at home.

You know your elder best, but there can be many pieces of the puzzle to get right. 

Let me help you with the nutrition piece. I can give you what you need as the primary carer to make nutrition decisions with confidence.

Hi, I’m Jo.

You deserve easy access to nutrition coaching and support to help keep your elder safely independent and enjoying being at home. 

Having a knowledgeable, skilled and supportive professional companion to help you get the right nutrition information to shop, prepare and cook for elderly whanāu can make all the difference.

I help by offering

  • Strategic nutrition support for elders to remain independent 
  • Training on the nutritional needs for elders
  • Practical problem solving to produce inclusive family meals
  • Nutrition education for chronic health conditions including dysphagia, diabetes, COPD, heart disease, diarrhoea and constipation, dementia, and Parkinson’s. 


Provide food all the family can enjoy together

You don’t have to make different meals for everyone at the table. With coaching you can confidently make meals everyone will love, without blowing the budget or spending hours in the kitchen.

Confidently manage special diets

Learn about foods can help manage medical conditions commonly seen in our elders. With support you’ll soon feel confident that the food you’re providing is maximising their wellbeing.

Know you’re supporting their independence

With the right information you can help your elder remain independent with confidence in their own home. Helping them stay social and a valued part of their community.

Good nutrition is essential to healthy ageing

Help your elder thrive with the right nutrition for them

Hunting for Protein

Getting enough protein is a hot topic in wellness conversations right now, but making sure you get enough protein for your current needs can be a bit overwhelming. I have an 80+ year old friend whoRead more

Getting enough Vitamin D in winter months?

Last night I watched my mum count out her medications into her monthly pill dispenser. It’s a bit of an undertaking! You may not think of vitamins as medication, but it is important to spare themRead more

Can your diet reduce your risk of falls and fractures?

Falling can be a terrifying and catastrophic event for older persons. I have a 93 year-old friend who fell and fractured bones in her neck several years ago. She recovered with time and therapy, andRead more

Eating Well in Lockdown

Have you been excited about food and mealtimes over lockdown? Or did the isolation stretch your creative capacity for home cooking a little too far?  If you are caring for an independent elder overRead more

We do life best together

My mother recently started participating in online exercise classes. At 10AM, three days a week, I can find her seated in front of her laptop in her living room, following her online instructor.Read more

Journeying with our Elders

To the young, the journey into old age may look like a downhill slide, but for those on that road, it can feel like an uphill slog. Being a dietitian for the aging and the elderly has been myRead more

If we didn’t have food, would we have families?

I came across this question years ago in a coffee table book. It was written in large, plain print across a double page, with no images to distract the reader from the question. At first theRead more

Sign up for my Newsletter

I'll share nutritional advice and support so you can make informed choices when caring for yourself and your elderly family members.

{{errors.first('rs-77bd-15d1-f34e', 'rs-77bd-939c-777f')}}

Thanks for subscribing to my Newsletter!