It’s that time of year again, and for those who have family members with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the holidays can bring even more stress than ever-but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. Here are some great tips to help manage stress to ensure that everyone enjoys a relaxing holiday season this year.
If your loved one is in the earlier stages of AD, there may not be much change at all in your home this year during the holiday season, but in the middle or later stages of the disease, the challenges may start to stack up.
Consider having a meeting of all close family members and friends who will be attending for the holidays to discuss possible limitations and why adherence to a regular schedule is important.
Don’t hold yourself to the usual standard of entertaining if it’s too stressful for you and/or your loved one with AD. Find creative ways to make family traditions easier, for example; consider a pot luck instead of cooking the entire holiday meal yourself. If your loved one gets more agitated or confused at night, why not have a holiday brunch instead of a dinner for the family get together this year? Try to keep the guest list as short as possible for family gatherings-closest relatives and family friends only. Large groups, exponential noise and late night hours along with a drastic change from the usual daily routine can overwhelm a person who has AD.
It’s important to keep relatives and out of town guests who may not be aware of the most recent changes informed on the latest in your loved one’s symptoms before they arrive to your home. Sharing information via a letter or email to keep the family updated may help avoid being bombarded with questions and relieve much of the stress from anticipation about how guests and relatives will react once they arrive. While you are at it, remember to do some education and offer guests who may not have been around for a while some suggestions of how to best communicate and help your loved one with AD.
Here are some examples of how you can arrange the wording in your letter or email;
“Keep in mind that at times Dad/Mom has problems thinking and remembering clearly, his/her behavior can be sporadically unpredictable.”
“Know that although Mom/Dad may not initially remember your name or may get you confused with someone else at times, he/she (and we) really appreciate your visit-please don’t take this personally.”
Feel free to share other important tools about AD caregiving you have learned by taking our 25 lesson course at AlzU.org. CLICK HERE if you have not joined yet.
Last but not least, be sure to involve your loved one with AD in the holiday festivities. The social interaction and family traditions are meaningful for him/her. Singing old family holiday songs and carrying out family traditions may even help with memory loss.
Most importantly as a caregiver, be good to yourself. Getting it perfect isn’t nearly as important as just being together and spending time enjoying your family during the holiday season.
