There are a lot of challenges that seniors and their families face as Alzheimer’s progresses. Some of those challenges have easy fixes, but some don’t. As your senior loved one’s Alzheimer’s journey progresses finding ways to keep them entertained can be a real challenge. Having an Alzheimer’s care provider can help.
When seniors with Alzheimer’s get to the point where they don’t recognize anyone in family photos anymore and they can no longer follow a story in a book or on TV, it can be tough to find ways to entertain them. The days can be very long for seniors without any kind of distraction or entertainment.
Alzheimer’s Care
Alzheimer’s care can help seniors and their families deal with some of the physical challenges of Alzheimer’s. With Alzheimer’s care, seniors have the extra help and support they need for things like eating or getting dressed. What can you do to entertain someone with Alzheimer’s when they can’t do the things they used to enjoy anymore?
Greeting Cards
Greeting cards are a fantastic amusement for seniors with Alzheimer’s. You can have family and friends send greeting cards to your senior parent, or save up all the greeting cards that you receive throughout the year and keep them in a big box. You can also solicit your friends and family members to save their greeting cards. The colors and textures of the greeting cards are very appealing to seniors with Alzheimer’s. And reading the short poems and texts on the cards is good for their cognitive skills.
Fidget Mats and Blankets
There are items made specifically to amuse seniors with Alzheimer’s while at the same time providing a workout for their cognitive skills and hand/eye coordination. These fidget items have lots of different textures for seniors to feel. They also have different sensory toys and items attached so that seniors have all kinds of objects that they can touch, turn, push, pull, and fidget with. Fidget mats are the most popular of the different fidget items but there are also fidget muffs that go over a senior’s hands, fidget blankets, and fidget aprons. You may have to experiment with a few different types of fidget items to find out which one your senior parent prefers.
Books For Seniors With Alzheimer’s
There are also picture books designed just for seniors with Alzheimer’s. These books allow seniors to flip through the book so that they feel like they’re reading even though they don’t have any reading ability left, or they have limited reading ability. The photos in the books are huge and very detailed to keep seniors engaged. They have topics like babies, animals, and nature scenes that can keep seniors amused and entertained.
YouTube Channels
If your senior parent has a smart TV and Wifi you can connect them to YouTube channels that run for 12 hours or 24 hour at a time and feature soft music and fun visuals. You can turn on an aquarium channel so your senior parent can watch soothing fish floating by or turn on nature scenes so that your senior parent can feel like they are outside.
Providing exceptional Alzheimer’s Care for seniors and families in the Northern Virginia area, including Arlington, Alexandria, McLean, Reston, Burke, Ashburn, Centreville, Springfield, Manassas, and Oakton. Call today to speak with our caring staff: (703) 272-8838.
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