When aging adults with Alzheimer’s can no longer take part in everyday activities, they may easily become bored, causing them to experience bouts of depression, anxiety, anger, and even sundowning. Finding the ideal activities for seniors with Alzheimer’s may help them focus, maintain their motor skills, and reduce their need for medication to manage difficult behavior, depression, and agitation. Check out the following activities that can keep seniors with Alzheimer’s calm, busy, and engaged.
Playing Matching Card Games
Regularly playing memory card games can help aging adults with Alzheimer’s concentrate, boost their memory and hand-eye coordination, stimulate their problem-solving skills, and build their confidence and self-esteem. These types of games can also offer seniors hours of fun and bonding time with their caregivers and enhance their mental stimulation.
A professional caregiver can be an ideal game-playing partner for a senior with Alzheimer’s. Aging adults with Alzheimer’s disease can benefit from receiving professional Alzheimer’s Care. Oklahoma City seniors need regular mental stimulation when managing memory-related conditions, and a reliable in-home caregiver who has extensive training in Alzheimer’s care can be a great asset.
Cooking
Seniors with Alzheimer’s often lose interest in food due to sensory changes. Having cooking lessons at home can enhance their senses and reawaken their passion for food. This lesson could include doing things like making a favorite family recipe, decorating cupcakes, or washing and peeling vegetables. You can even have your senior loved one set the table. Cooking is a wonderful way of spending some fun quality time together, and it may also liven up your loved one’s senses and make him or her feel useful and involved.
Making a Centerpiece
Flower arranging is a versatile activity that’s perfect for aging adults with Alzheimer’s because it can be done at a table while standing or sitting on a stool or in a wheelchair. Making an arrangement can be as simple as placing flowers in a vase, and it offers sensory and cognitive stimulation. Arranging flowers can also help seniors preserve their motor skills as well as provide a sense of independence and accomplishment.
If your senior loved one has been diagnosed with a serious condition and needs help with tasks like meal prep, transportation, bathing, and grooming, reach out to Lifestar Home Care, a leading provider of at-home care families can trust. We also offer comprehensive care for seniors with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
Playing Bingo
Playing a board game is an exciting and entertaining way to keep your loved one busy for a couple of hours. A game like bingo can greatly benefit your loved one’s cognitive skills because he or she needs to match and distinguish between colors and numbers. It also offers a wonderful opportunity to have fun while stimulating the mind.
Creating a Memory Box
Making memory boxes is a clever way to help seniors with Alzheimer’s draw out and stimulate their memories. They can put their favorite objects or family photos in boxes they can touch and examine. If your loved one is feeling agitated, looking at the items in the box may calm him or her down. Going through a memory box is also a way for you and your loved one to relax and bond while reminiscing about the personal items in it.
Playing Handyman
Many aging adults have proud memories of being handy around their homes. You can create a handyman game to aid your loved one in preserving those memories as well as having activities to keep his or her hands busy. Gather inexpensive pieces of wood or PVC pipe in various sizes and colors your loved one can put together and take apart in a variety of ways to keep him or her entertained as well as boost his or her memory and hand-eye coordination.
If your loved one is living with Alzheimer’s, having a trained professional caregiver close by can provide you and your family with much-needed peace of mind. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of Home Care. Oklahoma City families can rely on Lifestar Home Care to provide individualized care plans to meet their elderly loved ones’ unique care needs. Our caregivers help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly, and we offer mentally stimulating activities that can boost cognitive health and delay the onset of dementia. To hire a professionally trained caregiver for your parent, give us a call at (405) 288-9275 today.