21 Dec Dementia Friendly Christmas

Christmas can be an exciting time for us but it can also be very stressful. This is also true for people with dementia. The change in routine, bright lights, and visits can be challenging for both dementia sufferers and families.
Here at our homes we are very aware of the potential difficulties and have worked our schedule around this. For example, when we were putting up trees we involved as many of the residents as possible, making them feel part of the process. We also put the trees up gradually over 3 days so as not to overwhelm anyone.

As for activities they are always around 45 minutes long to avoid anyone getting tired. Participation is always optional, we do encourage but never force anyone to join in. Activities are also always around the same time in the day to fit in with the homes and residents’ routines.

We also have music playing most of the time but it is best to keep this to a comfortable level. Music is brilliant for dementia sufferers but if it is too loud it can be distressing for them.

Some of our residents may not even know it’s Christmas or think it is a Christmas from many years ago and this is OK. We just go with the flow and as long as they are happy, so are we.

So finally we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.