About this tool

Senior Hydration Reminder Planner

Daily drink target for an older adult using the ESPEN geriatric minimum or 30 ml per kg, split into small prompted servings anchored to meals and stopped before bed.

The Senior Hydration Reminder Planner turns an older adult's daily drink target into a timed list of small prompted servings, because thirst and the kidney's ability to concentrate urine both decline with age and an older person can be dehydrated before feeling thirsty. It uses the ESPEN 2019 geriatric guideline, which adopts the EFSA Adequate Intake for water from beverages — 1.6 litres a day for women and 2.0 litres for men — or the clinical alternative of 30 ml per kg of body weight with a 1.5 litre floor. It is written for family carers, care-home staff and older adults building a drinking routine they can actually keep.

How to use Senior Hydration Reminder Planner

1. 1

   Open Senior Hydration Reminder Planner on AltFTool — it loads instantly in your browser.

2. 2

   Choose How to set the target — ESPEN / EFSA minimum for older adults or Body weight (30 ml per kg per day) — and enter the wake-up time and bedtime.

3. 3

   Set Conditions today for a warm spell or heatwave, pick a comfortable serving size between 80 and 300 ml, and add any prescribed daily fluid limit.

4. 4

   Read the ml target and the Prompt times table of time, amount and meal anchor, then press Copy schedule.

Why use Senior Hydration Reminder Planner

• Small servings, not big glasses

  Splits the day into 80-300 ml drinks, which are easier to manage and better absorbed than a few large volumes.

• Stops before bed

  The last drink lands two hours before bedtime to cut night waking and the falls that follow it.

• Anchored to real routine

  Drinks that fall within 45 minutes of a meal are labelled with it, so the prompt attaches to something already happening.

Common use cases

• A daughter setting phone alarms for a 78-year-old father who forgets to drink, spacing 2.0 litres across the waking day in 200 ml glasses.
• A care-home shift lead planning drink rounds during a heatwave, adding the 600 ml hot-weather allowance and anchoring servings to the meal and medication rounds.
• A carer for someone with a 1,200 ml fluid restriction from a heart-failure clinic, splitting that exact amount across the day without exceeding it.

Frequently asked questions