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December is a festive time of year and for many, the holidays provide an opportunity to visit with family members and loved ones we may not have seen recently.
However, holiday celebrations present challenges for people with dementia and their caregivers. Treating a person with dementia as a best friend can make all the difference between a successful get-together and one fraught with frustration.
Touchmark Executive Director Holli Stack has taught the innovative Best Friends™ Approach and knows its effectiveness firsthand. She also oversees the retirement community Touchmark at The Ranch, which is a certified Best Friends Environment.
Adjusting expectations is especially helpful. Here are some of the tips Stack recommends to make the holidays easier for all:
- Make sure visitors understand that the disease—not the person—causes changes in behavior and memory since there may be significant changes in cognitive abilities since the last visit.
- Adapt festivities and times when your loved one is involved. You want to plan things based on their best time of the day.
- Stick to the person’s routine. This will help keep the holidays from becoming disruptive or confusing.
- Be sure to plan time for breaks and rest. You also may want to consider breaking large gatherings into smaller visits of two or three people at a time to keep the person with Alzheimer’s disease (and you) from getting overtired.
- Remember, less is more when planning your holiday
Resident Bill Dunn’s wife was one of the first people to move into Touchmark’s recently opened memory care addition after the couple moved to the community in 2019. “As soon as she was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia and exhibited the kinds of symptoms that confirmed it, it became obvious that I was going to need to do something knowing what was coming in the future,” says Dunn. He finds comfort in knowing that the highly trained and qualified staff in his wife’s neighborhood are providing her round-the-clock care, allowing her to be comfortable and engaged.
Touchmark provides memory care as well as independent and assisted living. Currently, more than 150,000 people aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia illnesses in Arizona. Touchmark continues to support the Alzheimer’s Association annually, raising over
$3,600 this year. Touchmark’s qualified team enriches the lives of those with dementia and helps families throughout Central Arizona stay connected with their loved ones experiencing memory loss.
Call 928-632-7800 to learn more about memory care and/or dementia caregiver support at Touchmark.
