Dementia is a neurological disorder; it is progressive and chronic and affects the cognitive function of your ageing senior. It affects their thinking process, memory, ability to calculate, judge, learn and comprehend. This cognitive impairment slowly also affects the emotional and social behaviour of your elderly. The concern is that it is the most common cause of dependency among seniors, and it affects everyone differently. According to the World Health Organization, there are around 50 million people having dementia, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year. It gets diagnosed as Alzheimer’s in some or Vascular dementia in others. Dementia is not a specific disease. Instead, it refers to particular symptoms related to a decline in memory.
When your senior gets diagnosed with dementia, it is essential that you surround them with love, care and affection. You should keep them engaged and calm. A structured group of activities may not always work. Instead, research for brief and straightforward activities for dementia patients that will be effective and accomplishing. Some of these activities in which you can engage your senior with dementia include,
Engage your ageing elderly with dementia in simple and involving games. You can get some board games like Ludo, snakes and ladders, easy crossword puzzles, Scrabble, jumbled words or card matching game. Such games will keep them busy, and they will be happy to win and complete it. However, it is not advisable to get complex activities or games and tricky puzzles, which if they are not able to play, will be demotivating for them.
The intent is to keep your senior busy and happy, so along with the above indoor games, you can involve them in some outdoor activities too. Like gardening, stroll in the park, sitting and deep breathing exercises. During summers, you can also take them for a swim to encourage physical activity and socialisation. These will be mood boosters and refreshing for the elderly. However, during all the outdoor activities, you must accompany your elderly.
This can be an amazingly soothing and calming activity. You should also try playing their favourite music to help them connect and recall. When someone has dementia, they can remember past incidents and habits more effectively as compared with the recent ones. If you know of some music from their childhood days, then play that and see them walk down the memory lane.
As they can recall the activities of the past more efficiently, you can also involve them in their creative hobbies. Like if your elderly enjoys craft or artwork, knitting or painting, get them small and simple kits, and they will be happy and busy.
Getting diagnosed with Alzheimer’s does not mean that you stop your elderly from doing the day to day activities. Instead, you should engage them in simple activities like helping in baking, cooking or sorting vegetables, folding clothes, managing bookshelves and assisting with pet walking.
You can try the above set of activities with your elderly and help them significantly when they get diagnosed with Dementia. When dealing with dementia patients, you will need to be patient. However, the condition may deteriorate, over time, and you will need professional assistance. When you need someone, who can help you and your senior sail through this phase, then trust Samvedna Care in Delhi. We offer complete dementia care including carrying out cognitive assessments, group programs, home care programs and caregiver support. Together we can make this phase of your senior’s life easy and happy. There are many benefits for dementia patients and their families in seeking help from organizations like Samvedna Care. We are your extended family and will help you provide the best care for your elderly. Know more about our dementia care services and connect with us today for your elderly.
Samvedna Care, G-7 Oriental Villas, Sushant Lok III, Sector 57, Gurgaon
Samvedna Care, C-13 Anand Niketan, New Delhi
+91 74280 97301
