Activities Of Daily Living

Activities For People With Alzheimer's Disease

For people with Alzheimer's disease, successful activities of daily living, whether it's listening to music or playing a game, help create meaning and pulls from past interests.

Activities of daily living allow the person to be part of a family and community and gives him or her the chance to be more engaged with life.

“The biggest thing to remember with a person with dementia is that they're a person with dementia.”

There will always be part of that individual who wants to help, participate, and succeed.

Although as the caregiver you will want to find activities of daily living that take in account lost abilities, you should always focus on the person and not the disease.

Even if your loved one does not remember the activity, the joy he feels from taking part in a project, big or small, leaves a positive effect and contributes to an overall sense of happiness.

Categories of activities, see: Alzheimers Activities

Why Activities Help

Activities can be continued during the process to change-over to Alzheimers Assisted Living .

Games, housework, Occupational Therapy and the other activities of daily living listed below can lessen agitation and depression. Activities can also help maintain motor skills that aid daily tasks such as buttoning a shirt or recognizing household objects.

Projects that match a person's skill level also give the patient a sense of ownership and independence. And when your loved one completes an activity, she gains a sense of accomplishment.

Activities of daily living also help relieve a caregiver's frustration by keeping the loved one stimulated and by fostering emotional connection and self expression.

We invite you to click here to read more about Coping with Memory Loss.

General Guidelines For Activities Of Daily Living

• Create meaningful activities.
  Try for activities that your loved one used to do and enjoy.

• Assess skills.
  Can they sort objects by size or color? Can they button shirts and zip up jackets? Can they follow written commands? Modify activities to make them more or less challenging to fit the skills of your loved one.

• Play up past interests.
  People with Alzheimer's often maintain old habits and abilities. Try adapting these skills into smaller and more manageable components. Create games based on their interests.

• Make activities failure free.
  If your loved one is involved and happy, don't correct him. The goal is to engage the person with dementia and encourage a sense of success.

• Keep activities simple.
  Too many decisions may frustrate people with Alzheimer's. Keep crowds and noise to a minimum.

• Give both verbal and visual instruction.
  Feel free to tell and to show. If your loved one is accepting, even guide his arms gently as you instruct.

• Do activities that let your loved one manipulate materials.
  For people with advanced dementia, avoid small objects that might be swallowed.

• Select the best time of day for your loved one.
  More energy in the morning? Go for a walk. More focused in the afternoon? Try an art project.

• Keep the work area safe.
  Work with unbreakable plastics; keep the surface clean, uncluttered and well lit.

• Be prepared with alternate activities.
  If your loved one doesn't connect with an activity, be sure to have another ready. Through trial and error, you'll find activities that best suit your loved one.

• And don't be afraid to try something new,
  to see if it arouses curiosity.

• Repeat favorite activities, and establish a routine.
  Note the activities your loved one enjoys. Although the patient may not remember them the next time, she may repeat the processes instinctively. While doing familiar activities, such as sorting objects, keep the procedures the same, but try different content from day to day to keep it fresh for her and for you.

• dementia and sexuality.
  Patients with dementia and their spouses continue to have sexual needs. Therefore dementia and sexuality need attention from people involved.

• Driving and Alzheimers.
  This a very difficult issue. Driving and Alzheimers are a contradiction. For a person with Alzheimer's disease, driving becomes increasingly difficult if not impossible.

More Detailed Information

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