Activities for Alzheimer’s

Activities for Alzheimer’s Disease

Choosing dementia activities isn’t so different from choosing an activity for anyone else. Consider the individual’s interests and abilities.  Perhaps he or she was an avid reader but can no longer enjoy a novel or even the newspaper. Picture books with limited text are available. Dementia activity books serve a dual purpose – they exercise the brain while providing a reader with the pleasure of the reading process.

Someone who always kept a garden will likely enjoy helping in the garden or yard, or even keeping some plants in a pot garden.  One important consideration is to make the activity no-fail. Never judge (other than to appreciate the process and result).

The following list of activities for Alzheimer’s patients at home is not exhaustive, is in no particular order, and does not take account of stage and individual abilities.

Appropriate activities for Alzheimer’s include:

1. Painting or other art or craft projects—art is therapeutic
2. Visit an art museum—many now have docents trained to communicate with people with dementia
3. Play a game
4. Reminisce while looking through an old photo album
5. Work a jigsaw puzzle
6. Sing along with familiar music (or just enjoy listening)
7. Enjoy and react to the beauty of nature in the flesh or even on a TV screen or a nature book. If walking in the woods, for example, is not practical, take a drive.
8. Create or work on a Memory Book
9. Work out to an exercise video² (keep the level of the exercise appropriate)
10. Help with household chores as appropriate—this group of activities for Alzheimer’s in particular will add to your loved ones’ confidence feeling of self-worth and their. Helping around the house will help them to feel productive and that they are a productive part of the family.
    1. Putting away silverware – a sorting activity that needs to be done daily
    2. Folding towels
    3. Drying the dishes
    4. Setting the table
11. Take a walk—walking is great exercise, and exercise is one of the best ways to ease the behavioral symptoms of dementia. Another is diet..
12. Help prepare a meal. That may be cutting vegetables, making a salad, or peeling potatoes. Keep the activity appropriate to your loved ones abilities.
13. Work out to an exercise video² (keep the level of the exercise appropriate)—once again, exercise is good medicine
14. Start a garden, or work in an existing one. Hands in the dirt is good on so many levels. An herb and flower garden is very fulfilling, as is a vegetable garden.
15. Rake leaves in the fall. Mulch them and add them to the garden before putting it to bed for the winter.
16. Collect and press colorful and interesting leaves.
17. Look for interesting pictures in old magazines. Cut them out and put them into a scrapbook.
18. Watch TV. (?) Used in moderation and with discretion the TV can be a great tool. It can provide appropriate entertainment. Old movies and TV shows are good but we recommend staying away from the news.
    

    If you don’t have a pet, maybe a friendly pet can come for a visit. Emphasis on “friendly!” Spending time with an animal counts as activities for Alzheimer’s

19. Play a trivia game—cognitive stimulation that can also provide reminiscence.
20. Sweep the floor
21. Put groceries away
22. Take a trip to the library. Especially good if your library is dementia friendly.
23. Create a sorting activity out of household items. Towels of different sizes and/or colors, nuts and bolts, playing cards, coins, socks… The possibilities are endless.
24. Write a letter to an old friend, a family member, or an historical or fictional character.
25. Spend time with pets—another great therapeutic activity
26. Put out a birdfeeder and see who visits. Get a bird book. Learning the names of birds is a cognitive activity

As dementia progresses, some activities may become too difficult. The National Institute on Aging has some suggestions to help you adapt familiar activities that may otherwise not be stage-appropriate.

When choosing activities for Alzheimer’s look for things that stimulate one or more of the senses. Recent research has determined that appropriate sensory stimulation creates and strengthens connections in the brain. It may even be responsible for creating new brain cells. Read more about sensory stimulation here.

Suggest activities, don’t mandate them. Present a puzzle as something your care-receiver might like to do with you. Don’t say, “Today we’re going to do this,” or even, “Doesn’t this look like fun?” You’re likely to get a boisterous, “NO!”  No matter how good your activities for Alzheimer’s are, they will do no good if they aren’t done willingly.

A doll makes a terrific activity for many people with dementia, and it provides a good example of how to present an activity.

We strongly suggest that a doll not be given to anyone. Instead, leave the doll sitting on a chair where it will be found easily. This method allows the individual to make the choice to care for the doll rather than feeling the responsibility is being forced upon her. We recommend a similar tactic whenever introducing a new activity. Make it available but let the person in your care choose to participate, and how to participate.

An activity doesn’t require something to be manipulated. activities for Alzheimer’s can be passive; sitting around a table and talking about old times, or talking about what is going on at the moment. Avoid talking about things in the recent past or plans for the future. Alzheimer’s disease first affects that part of the brain that turns experience into memory, so the person with Alzheimer’s disease will likely have no memory of recent events, but old memories are stored in a part of the brain that is affected much later in the disease’s progression. We like to say, “Make your conversations about yesteryear, not yesterday.” Your interaction then becomes Reminiscence Therapy, another activity with proven benefit to those with dementia.

Activity roots us in the present

The part of the brain responsible for logical thought and planning also deteriorates fairly early in the progression, making conversations about future events difficult and frustrating. Too often during visits in memory care communities we have overheard conversations containing questions like, “What are you going to do tomorrow?” or “What did you have for lunch?” Such questions are invariably confusing and frustrating. Activity is important because it stimulates. Depending on the activity, the brain is stimulated, the muscles and circulatory system are stimulated, the senses and imagination are stimulated.

Another aspect of activity that makes it such a powerful tool for the caregiver is that it keeps us rooted in the present. We do activities now. Admiring a piece of art is a good example. When we watch a movie, we have to remember what happened at the beginning of the movie to make sense of the end. When we look at a piece of art, it affects us in the present. Short term memory is not required. The ability to follow a plot is not needed. As a matter of fact, enjoying great art is proving to be very therapeutic for people with dementia. (Creating art is also great therapy, incidentally.)

In selecting activities for an individual with dementia, find things you think will pique his interest. It helps to know a little about the person; his history, his interests. If the person you are providing activity for is a family member, that should be easy.

If you are a professional caregiver, working in a community setting or making home visits, you may have to do a little homework. The individual you are providing care for will likely not be able to tell you much about himself initially, so, whenever possible, talk to his family and his friends — anyone who knew him when he was younger. As you get to know him, you will find that he will reveal things about himself; perhaps as you “reminisce” with him or as something otherwise stimulates a memory.

Music is King!

For most of us, music is a good trigger for reminiscing. An “oldie” on the radio has the power to transport us immediately back to a high school dance (remember sock-hops?), a first date (remember… of course you do), or a particularly memorable vacation. A funny thing about music is that it usually stirs up good memories, memories of happy times. There are exceptions, but this peculiarity is what makes reminiscence therapy such a good tool for us as caregivers to keep in our back pocket.

Very often, an individual in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease who is non-verbal and seemingly unresponsive will break into song, while listening to a familiar old standard. Often, that person will get all the words right as well as the tune. More importantly, her eyes will open; she will smile, and her whole being will be rejuvenated. If you are fortunate to ever witness such a music-inspired “resurrection” I promise you it will not only make your day; as a caregiver it will make your month! Maybe even your year!! You can see a video of just such a remarkable transformation on our music as therapy page.