Alzheimer’s Disease: Planning for the Holidays

Planning for the holiday season can be a stressful time for families. Planning for the holidays with a loved with Alzheimer’s disease can make planning even worse. But why does it have to be? Why do people stress out so much? Imagine what it is like for the person with Alzheimer’s disease. The holidays should be a time for gathering and celebrating with the ones you love.

Below are some helpful tips to help make this holiday season a bit less stressful. I hope this helps!

If your parent, spouse or friend is in an assisted living facility or a nursing home please consider the following tips:

• Schedule visits at your loved one’s best time of day. People with Alzheimer’s disease tend to get tired easy, especially during the later stages. Your loved one may appreciate late morning or lunchtime visitors more than the late afternoon or evening.
• Celebrate in a familiar setting. For many people with Alzheimer’s disease, a change of environment can cause anxiety, even if you take them to your home. Consider holding a small family gathering at the facility. Also, see if there are activities planned at the facility that you can consider joining in on.
• Keep the visitor traffic to a minimum. Have only a few family members or friends visiting in on different days. Too many people can make things more confusing.

If you’re caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s at home:

• Host quiet gatherings. Try to keep noise and stimulation of an event at a low, steady pace. Keep things as quiet as possible and encourage your loved one to rest throughout the day.
• Have holiday activities planned to do together! Try opening holiday cards or baking cookies. Your loved one can help with each and if it doesn’t work, try something else!
• Minimize decorations. Large blinking lights and large decorative displays can cause disorientation for a person with Alzheimer‘s disease. Don’t put out artificial frui,t it can be easily mistaken for real fruit. The last thing you need is a broken tooth.

The best peice of advise is to not get upset is things don’t work out perfect. Things can change fast for a person with Alzheimer’s disease. Try to take things one step at a time. Frustration is the last thing anyone needs around the holidays.

* These are all recommendations made from observations and not to be taken as professional or medical advice.