‘Tis the season to be jolly, as well as dementia friendly! While many may associate the holiday season with cheer and joy, for others it can be a time of stress and loss. This may be the case for a loved one with dementia and their family. The person living with the disease is faced with a change in routine and increased stimulation. Family members may struggle with reminders of how the disease has changed their loved one. Caregivers often have an increase in their workload.
We do not have to forsake our traditions because a loved one in our life has dementia, but we may need to consider adapting our beloved rituals. Dementia is so much more than memory loss. It is a complete overhaul of one’s physical and sensory experience of the world. While the experience of dementia varies as greatly as our experiences of life vary, there are changes that occur in the brain as the disease progresses, that can be explained through neuroscience.
Brain scans have shown us that as the disease progresses, a person with dementia may lose their peripheral vision, lose the ability to filter out background noise, and have difficulty in processing information, among other challenges. Holiday celebrations can at times be overstimulating and emotional for the best of us, but add in these sensory and cognitive challenges, and the season has the potential to be downright painful.
This is not meant to cause despair, for there are ways we can alter our own behaviors and the environments in which we are celebrating, to make our celebrations accessible to all our loved ones. Though many people have a series of traditions that they return to year after year during the holiday season, if a family member lives with dementia, our value of tradition may need to be traded in for an ability for adaptation. Simplifying our traditions by reducing visual and auditory stimuli, eliminating all blinking lights, beginning our celebrations earlier in the day, and celebrating with a smaller number of guests and in a familiar setting to the person with dementia are all ways in which we can help create a space that is fun-filled for all.
Nearly 6 million Americans are living with some form of dementia, and The Center recognizes that dementia has a widespread impact on our community’s patients, caregivers, and professionals across the board. If your workplace or family is interested in learning some hands-on skills for adapting the environment for someone with dementia, reach out to us to schedule a time to go through the Virtual Dementia Tour. You can do so by e-mailing Briana Kohlbrenner at Briana@coloradonursingcenter.org