​Go Beyond Bingo

The day to day routine for persons with Alzheimer’s and Dementia is very important. It is also important as a caregiver to remember to keep your residents mentally stimulated and help them be active during the day. Sometimes it can be hard to find and create activities for your residents. This often leads to the decision to hire an outside source to do a show or just come to the home and interact with the residents. Many times though these actives can be overstimulating to the residents and it just may not be enjoyable at all to them. Choosing activities for persons living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia takes trial and error.
As a caregiver you must always use critical thinking when making decisions for your residents. Whether they verbally or non-verbally acknowledge their distaste for something you must pick up on that and remember to cater their needs. When it comes to planning actives try to incorporate all the needs for all residents. Because Alzheimer’s is such a progressive and the disease varies in severity no two individuals are going to be the same.
Here are a few low intensity but still very stimulating activities for you to incorporate into your loved ones daily routine.

• Yoga
• Pet therapy
• Cooking demonstration
• Dancing
• Special Events in the community (i.e. plays, carnivals)
• Music (from their era)
• Decorating cupcakes
• Karaoke
• Gardening

Strive to go beyond just bingo. There are many books and websites that give great tips on what activities your seniors may enjoy. Try introducing a few activities and seeing which work out the best for your residents. If they still continue to enjoy doing their crosswords and bingo of course don’t take that away but don’t stop trying to introduce new activities into their routine. As a caregiver taking the lead on a new activity is a sure fire way to get your loved one into the mood to do it too.