Living with dementia shouldn’t prevent your elderly loved one from enjoying him or herself. There are a lot of activities seniors with dementia can do to enhance their physical, mental, and emotional health, but those affairs need to be well planned. Here are some tips you can use when choosing activities for an elderly parent with dementia.
Choose a Safe Space
In addition to causing a lack of coordination and balance, dementia can lead to visual perception issues for older adults, putting them at a higher risk of accidents and injuries. To lower this risk, choose safe areas when planning your loved one’s activities. There should be adequate lighting, whether it’s indoors or outdoors. You also need to choose areas with plenty of space for your loved one to move around in. If rooms or outdoor spaces are cluttered and full of noises and other distractions, your loved one could fall or become stressed out.
Seniors with dementia can optimize their quality of life with the help of a highly trained, experienced professional caregiver. If your senior loved one needs professional dementia care, Green Valley caregivers are available around the clock to provide the high-quality care he or she needs. Using the revolutionary Cognitive Therapeutics Method, dementia caregivers can help your loved one stay mentally engaged and delay the progression of the disease.
Schedule Activities Accordingly
Combative behavior is typical in aging adults with dementia, but this issue can be prevented with the right caregiving strategies in place. When it comes to social events and tasks, always schedule the activities when your loved one is at his or her best. If you choose times of the day when your loved one is most agitated, he or she might display combative behavior, and the outing could be ruined. Most seniors with dementia enjoy taking walks, going to the grocery store, or attending community events in the morning and early afternoon instead of in the evening. Monitor your loved one’s actions and determine when he or she is at his or her best level of functioning, and schedule activities according to these times.
Seniors with dementia often need assistance with everyday activities so they can age in place in safety and comfort. If your senior loved one has been diagnosed with a serious condition and needs help with tasks like meal prep, transportation, bathing, and grooming, reach out to Embrace In-Home Care, a leading provider of homecare services families can trust. We also offer comprehensive care for seniors with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
Promote Emotional Connections
Emotional connections are significant for seniors with dementia because they can trigger memories, enhance mood, and slow the progression of the neurological disorder. Seniors with dementia can experience sensory problems, but activities that encourage emotional connections can lead to pleasant sensory experiences. For example, taking your loved one into the garden allows him or her to enjoy the benefits of nature, from the fresh smell of flowers to the sounds of the wind blowing and birds chirping.
Remember Your Loved One’s Limitations
Dementia impacts every senior differently, and the way the condition progresses also varies from person to person. When choosing activities, consider your loved one’s cognitive limitations as well as any mobility or vision impairment he or she may have. If you fail to customize each task, the project could become overwhelming, causing your parent to withdraw from the activity as well as future events or projects. Customizing each task doesn’t take the fun out—you merely need to simplify it based on your loved one’s health limitations. For instance, if reading has become too challenging, you can customize the activity by choosing books designed for seniors with dementia or purchase audiobooks for your loved one to enjoy.
If your loved one is living with dementia, having a trained professional caregiver close by can provide you and your family with much-needed peace of mind. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of senior home care. Green Valley families can rely on Embrace In-Home Care to provide individualized care plans to meet your elderly loved one’s unique care needs. Our holistic Balanced Care Method was designed to help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and our Cognitive Therapeutics Method offers mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia. If your loved one needs professional dementia care, Embrace In-Home Care is here to help. Call one of our dedicated Care Managers today at (520) 625-2050 to learn about the high quality of our in-home care services.