Deal with the real objection first
Most older people who drink too little are not forgetful about it — they have made a decision, usually about the toilet, night-time trips, or continence worries they will not raise with you.
Say it out loud kindly. Once it is in the open you can shift most of the fluid to before six o'clock and stop fighting about the total.
Make the drink easier than not drinking
- A lightweight cup they can lift one-handed, kept full, kept in reach of the chair they actually sit in.
- Variety: squash, tea, milky drinks, soup, jelly, fruit with high water content. It does not have to be water.
- Attach the drink to something already happening — the kettle, the news, the crossword.
- A jug filled each morning so the day's progress is visible without counting.
Prompts that work
Four or five short messages beat one long lecture. Keep them warm and specific: 'Mid-morning cuppa, Mum — there's shortbread in the tin.'
You Care Reminders sends exactly that, at times you set, in your own wording, and can tell you it was confirmed.
What not to do
Do not turn every phone call into an audit. Nothing kills cooperation faster than the sense of being marked. Set the prompts, then talk about something else entirely.
The wider picture
6 to 8 glasses
of fluid a day is the NHS guide for adults, and older adults often feel thirst less keenly.
Source: NHS