***Activities That Alzheimer's Sufferers Should / Could Be Involved With

One of the major problems faced by those suffering from Alzheimer's disease or any of the dementias is the periods of loneliness, boredom and frustration.

It is therefore important for both the sufferer and the carer that these “empty times” are as few and far between as possible. This not only gives the carer some respite (knowing that the person they are looking after is somewhat occupied) but also reduces the amount of time that the sufferer has trying to occupy himself in activities such as wandering.

When possible try to fill these empty times with activities that are creative, helpful and enriching but also those that are both physically and mentally rewarding.
The following few articles will give you some ideas of the things that you can do to actively do – a starting point as it were to occupy the odd moment.

Music and Films

Anything that involves music is particularly useful and easy to carry out. These may be activities that involve just listening to music and watching music videos / DVDs or musicals, to joining in and singing along to particularly older, well known songs.

It is possible to take the singing of songs further and incorporate it in to various games. These may include things such as “Name that Tune” where either a certain number of notes are played or lyrics sung and someone has to try and guess the song (and they can then complete it should they wish by singing the rest). A song title could be given that has a word missing and someone has to try to fill in the blank, or even you could try to name songs by certain artists and singers in a form of “who sung what”.

Depending on the amount of dementia or past interests activities can also include playing musical instruments especially rhythm instruments (as a side note music therapy can be very beneficial with regards to some of the behavioural problems that are often associated with dementia), dancing or even playing a role in local or nursing home shows, productions and plays – as long as the role is not to taxing or over stimulating. If you feel this may be a little too much then it is possible to just to attend various shows, plays, pantomimes etc.

Films, television and DVDs can not only be nostalgic but also useful, informative and an aid to memory retention and cognition. By watching and discussing films it is possible to open up conversation and debate but also reminisce on past personal history and events. These topics may be former occupations (first job, pay etc.), past holidays or anniversaries, significant historical events of the time, great inventions or break-throughs, war related events – such as military service or work in other related organisations.
These discussions can then lead on to asking for advice and information regarding your own work or related events (even if the advice is not used the person giving it still feels involved and of use) and the discussions can be ever growing to even include help with every day activities.

Watch out for my future articles and I will share some further ideas with you – or grab a copy of my book The Alzheimer’s Alternative to learn more.