Malnutrition Awareness Week, 5th-12th October 2020

5^th-12^th October is Malnutrition Awareness Week. There has never been a more important time to raise awareness of the importance of eating and drinking well in later life.

We all know how important it is to eat and drink well, but as we get older this can become more challenging, especially if your personal circumstances change or you are seeing friends and family less often than normal.

2020 has been a difficult year and more people than ever are expected to be affected by poor nutrition and dehydration.

The good news is that if people start to lose weight or become dehydrated, simple advice and encouragement can often be enough to help them to feel healthy again.

We all have a role to play

We all have a role to play to help people to notice if they have started to lose weight without trying or become dehydrated and to discuss simple tips with them that could help them to eat or drink a bit more. Many of us are having fewer face to face interactions with others at the moment, so it is crucial that we look out for the signs when we do, or proactively ask questions if we are supporting people remotely.

Get involved to raise awareness

1. Join one (or both) of our webinars we will be running during the week:

• Raising Awareness of Malnutrition, Wednesday 7^th of October, 3-4pm: eventbrite.co.uk/e/raising-awareness-of-malnutrition-in-older-adults-tickets-120054834241
• Hydration Awareness and Strategies to Promote Good Hydration, Thursday 8^th of October, 10-11am: eventbrite.co.uk/e/raising-awarenss-to-promote-hydration-in-older-adults-tickets-120164420015

2. Use this week to have conversations about eating and drinking well with people that you are in contact with and help us to dispel the myth that losing weight is a normal part of ageing.

Download resources from the Age UK Salford website (https://www.ageuk.org.uk/salford/about-us/improving-nutrition-and-hydration/our-resources/) to raise awareness in the community or workplace. You can also contact your local Programme Manager for printed versions of these materials:

PaperWeight Armbands – quick tool to check if someone is underweight

• Eat, Drink, Live well booklets – booklet for people who need to gain weight or improve their appetite
• A5 flyers – to raise awareness of the key messages: signs of malnutrition and tips for good hydration
• Recipe booklets
• Posters – to display in public spaces to raise awareness of good nutrition and good hydration
• Posters – to display in care home kitchens about good nutrition for people who are at risk of malnutrition