Making the Holidays special for our loved ones with Dementia

Chealsea here with Solutions for Senior

Before we get started today, I would like that thank Home Helpers of Bourbonnais for sponsoring Solutions for senior’s podcast. If you or your loved one live in the Kankakee or will county area call Home Helpers at 815-401-5527 for all your home care needs. You can also visit their website at www.homehelpershomecare.com/Kankakee

Hi everyone, on todays episode I’m going to be talking about way to help our loved ones with dementia feel connected to the holidays. The holidays can be a wonderful magical time of year but it can also be stressful and lonely for some. With the hustle and bustle of holiday gatherings, family members with dementia can easily slip to the sidelines. This may have us feeling disconnected with our loved one but most importantly this can make our loved one feel disoriented and disconnected. When our loved ones have those feelings can potentially cause our loved ones to have a behavior or even disconnect further.

While all family is visiting remember to remind everyone to resist the urge to correct our loved one with dementia. Correcting them offers no positive effect; run with what they are saying, that will create a meaning conversation for our loved one. In a conversation, the connection is what’s important, rather than the exact content of what’s being said. Having photos can provide amazing opportunities to facilitate a meaningful conversation. Photos can spark emotions and feelings associated with the particular point in our loved ones life. You can structure some conversations around an old family photo, rather than asking a specific question. Questions like ‘ What year was this taken?, Do you know where is photo was taken?’ Can confusing our loved one can they can get overwhelmed. Rather make observation about the photo such as, ‘ wow, I really like how the sun was shining that day or’ You always loved this photo.’ You can always aid your loved one by labeling the pictures with names of people, the place and the year.

We can always have our loved one help with food preparation. The kitchen can be a great place to enable our loved ones with dementia to take part in holiday preparations, helping them feel important and purposeful. Different foods and smells can also be very therapeutic, in addition to providing a nice positive memory trigger. Giving our loved one something simple to do – like, stirring provides a good range-of-motion activity. Having equipment ready and measure recipe ingredients in advance when cooking with our loved one can set you and your loved one up for success!

Music can have a way of magically connecting families. Watch a seasonal movie that’s part of your tradition and enjoy it as a family. Grab a blanket, get everyone comfortable, and watch the movie together.
We need to make sure our loved one has enough to eat and drink. Our loved one with dementia who is hungry might become agitated or emotional. If you’re in a new place or your loved one is having a hard time remembering because they haven’t been there in a while monitor for non-verbal signs that your loved one is having a hard time finding the restroom and consider pointing out where the bathroom is or placing a sign on the outside of the door.

During all of the holiday hustle and bustle don’t forget to take care of yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Enlist family to help weather it’s with the cooking or taking care of our loved one. If everyone is running on empty cups, then try making the holidays simpler by ordering a meal that’s already prepared. You can order the whole meal, or you can order the main parts of the meal and only have to worry about the smaller sides. Through it all don’t forget how special the holidays are and enjoy them.