The best gift you can probably give your loved one at all stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the gift of time. But what should you do to spend quality time with him/her?
Here are some great ideas of things to do that your loved one with AD will most likely enjoy;
1.Ask your senior loved one with AD about family stories and cherished memories. You may be surprised how well the long term memory works, even for those with AD with short term memory problems.
2.Get out old photographs and share them with your loved one.
3.Create a scrapbook of family memories.
4.Start a journal and use pictures and captions to describe people and places your loved one remembers.
5.Check out this website; www.storycorps.org- it’s a company that digitally records the history of your love one, then keeps it on file on a CD at the Library of Congress. This is a great way to preserve your family history for generations to come.
6.Go for a walk, do some gardening, or simply sit outside (when weather permits) and talk about family memories such as past vacations or holidays.
7.Find an online source to explore your family tree with your loved one. He/she can provide information on relatives of the past to help you discover where your family roots came from. This could be a really fun activity to do with your loved one with AD.
8.Create a digital photo album using favorite family photos to create a DVD slide show with captions and perhaps even using old music familiar to your loved one.
9.Find some old favorite family recipes and prepare a meal with your loved one with AD.
10.Play your loved one’s favorite tunes; music is a proven way to stimulate memories even in those in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
These are just a few ideas of some ways to spend quality time with your love one with AD. The most important factor is simply to show up, but sharing memories together can be an enjoyable experience for both of you.
Learn more about caregiving topics for those with AD by joining our 25 topic course for caregivers at AlzU.org today-CLICK HERE to join.
