Forgetting to turn off the stove can make some seniors averse to cooking.

Last month I did an assessment on a man, close to 90 years old, who came to the US from Ireland. ?He says he really likes Meals On Wheels because the food is nutritious, and if he’s not hungry when the meal comes, it is easy to heat it up in the microwave later. ?He tries to make Irish stew at least twice a month but finds that once he walks away from the stove he forgets about it. ?”I can’t tell you how many times I make stew and burn it,” he says. ?”I use to be a good cook, but not anymore.”

His daughters have warned him about the dangers of both cooking and driving, at age 90, but he pays no attention to them and drives to see his wife who is in a nursing home in Hayward. ?He has a great need to see her everyday. ?He left his wife in Ireland with 4 kids to come to California to get a job. ?She had to raise the kids alone for years before he had enough money to bring everyone over.

Notes from the Field
Barb Proctor, Meals On Wheels Assessment Coordinator