One of my favorite parts of every day at my community is when the Snack Cart comes out.
I realized when I started here that there was not a designated “snack time” during the day. I have found that getting a snack helps my residents stay happy and calm.
The Snack Cart is just a bunch of sweets and savory items on a wheeled, plastic cart. We get shipments of new snacks every other week. These items include pudding, cookies, crackers, and juice.
It’s mostly all sugar, but that’s okay. The food items that people with dementia enjoy most are often sugar-based. That’s because the ability to taste sugar sticks around when other taste buds begin to diminish as a person’s dementia progresses.
Sometimes my aides take on the task of handing out snack, but often I will do it myself because it is so rewarding to see how happy it makes my residents.
Usually, if someone is half asleep on a couch, they perk up when you offer them a snack.
“Oh! You shouldn’t have!” one of my residents said to me today when I handed her a favorite cookie.
