I believe thae fact that I kept my husband well supplied with vitamins, minerals, and other supplments kept him physically able until very near the end. In fact I guessed he would probably die soon after he could no longer take these nutrients. About 3 months before he died, he could no longer swallow them, and although I tried mashing them and putting them in apple sauce or yogurt, that did not work so well as he objected to the flavor and texture. We brought my mother to stay with me when she could no longer function in her assisted living home. She had stopped going down stairs to eat and was snacking in her room. She had cracked lips, bruises and sores on her body and toe corns. She had not been taking the vitamin packets I made for her once a month when I went to do her financial work as she was nearly blind from Glaucoma. She lived with me about 6 months until the mitral valve replaced with a pig valve a decade earlier completed failing. However, I did improve her nutrition and she took the supplements I gave her. Her lips healed, the corn fell off her toe, the bruises faded, and her skin no longer looked like she had a deficiency disease. Also, she began to be able to see things across the street dimly. My great aunt returned home from hospitalization for a broken bone at age 93. The doctor gave no recommendations for anything nutritional, not even calcium and Vitamin D for bone healing. She died soon after. My husband’s mother was in a hospital for dementia for at least 3 years before she died. Both my mother and my husband were adament, they did not want to die in a hospital. So, as the retired sibling mother became my responsibility as well as my husband.
I completely agree your supplement and food approach kept your loved ones going.