Helping a Loved One with Dementia During the Holiday Season
Dementia and Holiday Enjoyment
Our Resident RN Sharon Roth Maguire recently shared some wonderful gift-giving ideas for aging loved ones. In fact, one of her favorites is simply giving the gift of your presence. All of these tips would be great for anyone, but we wanted to also provide a few helpful considerations for those who have loved ones with dementia. The Alzheimer’s Association offers some thoughtful ideas gift-giving and spending quality time that we felt could truly make for a memorable holiday season for everyone.
Build on past traditions and memories. Focus on activities that are meaningful to the person with dementia. Your family member may find comfort in singing old holiday songs or looking through old photo albums.
Involve the person in holiday preparation. If possible, invite him or her to help prepare food, wrap packages, decorate or set the table. This could be as simple as handing you the lights as you place them on the Christmas tree. Be careful with lights, though. Blinking lights may confuse or scare a person with dementia, and decorations that look like food could be mistaken as edible.
Encourage safe and useful gifts for the person with dementia. Diminishing capacity may make some gifts unusable or even dangerous to a person with dementia. If someone asks for gift ideas, suggest items the person with dementia needs or can easily enjoy. Ideas include an identification bracelet, comfortable clothing, audiotapes of favorite music, videos and photo albums.
Put respite care on your wish list. If friends or family ask what you want for a gift, suggest a gift certificate or something that will help you take care of yourself as you care for your loved one. This could be a cleaning or household chore service, an offer to provide respite care, or something that provides you with a bit of rest and relaxation.
Click here for more planning tips for spending the holiday season with a loved one with dementia. Or, for information about the care and support BrightStar Care can offer families this time of year and beyond, contact our local office.
BrightStar Home Care of Appleton and Waupaca area proudly provides medical staffing, skilled nursing and non-medical in home care for seniors and children, including a passion for elder care companionship and supportive services in Outagamie, Waupaca, and portions of Winnebago, Calumet and Brown counties. We are very proud of our Joint Commission Accreditation to provide you the highest quality of care in the Appleton, Fox Cities and Waupaca areas.
Ideas for Helping A Loved One in Appleton with Dementia Enjoy the Holiday Season
The holiday season is a time of fun, merriment, and lots of hustle and bustle activity. Along with the hustle and bustle, comes stress. Family time can be stressful, not having enough time in the day to get things done can be stressful, as well as the stress of making sure that everyone involved in the activities is having an enjoyable time.
Build on past traditions and memories. Focus on activities that are meaningful to the person with dementia. Your family member may find comfort in singing old holiday songs or looking through old photo albums.
Involve the person in holiday preparation. If possible, invite him or her to help prepare food, wrap packages, decorate or set the table. This could be as simple as handing you the lights as you place them on the Christmas tree. Be careful with lights, though. Blinking lights may confuse or scare a person with dementia, and decorations that look like food could be mistaken as edible.
Encourage safe and useful gifts for the person with dementia. Diminishing capacity may make some gifts unusable or even dangerous to a person with dementia. If someone asks for gift ideas, suggest items the person with dementia needs or can easily enjoy. Ideas include an identification bracelet, comfortable clothing, audiotapes of favorite music, videos and photo albums.
Put respite care on your wish list. If friends or family ask what you want for a gift, suggest a gift certificate or something that will help you take care of yourself as you care for your loved one. This could be a cleaning or household chore service, an offer to provide respite care, or something that provides you with a bit of rest and relaxation.
Click here for more planning tips for spending the holiday season with a loved one with dementia. Or, for information about the care and support BrightStar Care can offer families this time of year and beyond, contact our local office.