Holiday activities with a person with dementia
By Attorney Adi Rafael
The month of Tishrei is here and with it the string of holidays. We've already made it through Rosh Hashanah, and around the corner is Yom Kippur. The holidays bring joy and excitement, an opportunity for family gatherings and festive meals, but they also break our regular routine. People are traveling, various activities are canceled, and there's more noise and commotion than usual.
Photo by Mike Scheid on Unsplash
This change in routine creates great difficulty and anxiety for people living with dementia, as well as for their family members. Therefore, it is important to create an employment and activity plan for them for the many holidays. In addition, joint and enjoyable activities lead to strengthening the relationship and creating new areas of interest.
Here are 10 things to keep in mind when building such a plan:
* Because dementia leads to functional impairment, it is very important to adapt the content to the physical and cognitive functional ability of the person with dementia, and to ensure appropriate employment.
* Try to maintain a regular and structured daily routine.
* Integrate the activities while constantly listening to the desires and abilities of the older person.
* Take the person for a walk or a walk in the neighborhood at least once a day. Sun exposure helps maintain wakefulness and sleep patterns.
* Incorporate physical activity, and try to get his body moving: walking, playing ball, drumming (drumming on the body).
* Think about activities that will lead to interest, challenge and a sense of success, and create a positive and relaxed atmosphere. You can use the employment kits of the EMDA Association : A. Connections and Skills Kit – an activity kit that includes a wide variety of games and ideas for joint activities. B. In the Armchair with Picasso Kit
* Music: Listening to music is a great activity. The sounds fill the room, and have a direct impact on the mood and overall feeling. You can listen together, sing together and even think about songs that are familiar with a particular topic. You can also watch music on the various music channels on television, an experience that simulates the feeling of a concert.
* Pictures: Use pictures of any kind: personal family photos, cards, newspaper pictures, etc. This allows for a conversation around a specific topic, and brings up memories. Pictures are a visual stimulus, which evokes experiences and memories from the past, and visual stimulation for seniors in general, and seniors living with dementia in particular, works better than auditory stimulation.
* Involve the person with dementia in various activities at home, such as folding laundry, cutting vegetables, making cookies, vacuuming. All in full accordance with their ability and cooperation.
* Maintain a balance between activity load and rest time. A person with dementia needs rest.
And after all this, here's another piece of advice from me, small but important: you too need rest and strength to continue, so don't forget to ask for help.