It is always challenging to assimilate when one of our loved ones receives an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. How can I help them? What will happen now? Can I take care of them at home?
Staying active and keeping doing things they enjoy is really important for people living with Alzheimer’s. For human life, maintaining a sense, objectives, and goals is essential. Therefore, it’s vital to continue an agenda of stimulating and fun daily activities. However, adjust your expectations.
For a patient with degenerative memory disease, ain’t easy to plan their days and perform different tasks without supervision.
How to plan activities for someone with Alzheimer’s disease?
Difficulty to decide what they want to do, or planning ahead it’s difficult for patients with Alzheimer’s disease or Dementia. This absence of initiative can scare them, make them quiet and withdrawn.
Therefore, it is essential to encourage them to enjoy recreational activities full of stimuli like the ones bellow:
- Consider that the person can be part of the task or merely be a spectator.
- Select chores that can be fun for everyone.
- Help the person to start and re-learn the skills needed to complete the task.
- Decided if the person can do the activity alone or if he needs help.
- Observe him and accompany him to handle the frustration and negative feelings if they arise.
- Ensure the person feels happy whit every achievement.
- Don’t forget to say thanks and congratulate him.
Adapting to Alzheimer’s at home
The residential care of a loved one with a diagnosis of memory loss can be genuinely challenging. Keep your patience and understand that, although they are still the same people as always, their skills have changed.
However, keeping a list of domestic activities in which they can participate, making the routine more manageable for everyone.
Following is a list of household chores in which a family member with dementia or Alzheimer’s can be of great support:
- Wash dishes, set the table or prepare simple meals.
- Sweep the floor.
- Shine the shoes
- Organize mail and cut coupons.
- Fold Clothes and socks.
- Categorizerecyclable materials or other things.
- Cook and bake under proper supervision.
