New Years Resolution to improve life with Dementia

As an Amazon Associate my posts contain affiliate links that include Amazon and Awin . If you make a purchase through my links I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps to support my site so I can continue to offer great content to you

As we prepare to welcome a new year. Carers for someone with dementia, like everyone else can find themselves reflecting back over the past and contemplate the future. Like most others we find ourselves making new years resolutions. Looking forward, life may feel challenging as dementia takes it’s journey.

As a carer for someone with Dementia, the past can feel incredibly sad and the future daunting.

If your new years resolution is to improve their life with dementia then you have come to the perfect blog page.

There are many ways to improve quality of life with dementia that can also help improve the carer’s life too. Here is a list of ideas to incorporate into your new year ahead.

Staying Active with Dementia

Write a list of ideas to help someone with dementia stay reasonably active. You may find that you enjoy some of the activities with them too. Finding some little snippets of enjoyment together can really help relieve some of the carer burden.

During the winter months it can be hard to find activities to keep moving but there are some ideas here to try.

• Cooking can be a good activity to do together. With a little supervision and guidance basic cooking such as making biscuits or buns can be fun.
• Music is always a favourite as often someone with dementia can remember music of their past and will happily sing along to their favourite tunes. There is a great resource book for using music with dementia here in the link. Encouraging a little dance to music will help keep mobility.
• Indoor games are plentiful and great for passing the time if the weather is not so good and are perfect for keeping the mind active. Indoor skittles can be a fun activity. If mobility is poor then a table top version is available.

Spring and Summer activities can venture into the garden. Fresh air is always good for the soul as they say!!

Gardening is a good activity and Spring time is perfect for encouraging someone with dementia into the garden to help with a bit of tidying up and planting bulbs. There are some good ergonomic gardening tools that are perfect for someone with arthritis or have difficulty holding the usual handles.

Creating a Routine for Dementia

Creating and keeping a routine can help memory loss and thinking. A few little ideas to incorporate into a routine can be useful.

• Keeping familiar things such as keys, slippers, clothes in the same place.
• Use a dosette box for tablets to help remember to take them and keep in the same familiar place.
• Schedule activities for the best times of day that they feel well.
• Have a regular routine, for example getting up and going to bed. Meal times. Going for a walk. Certain days and times for going to day centre. Going to the same shop that is familiar for shopping.
• Put a weekly timetable on the fridge or a place that it will be noticed.
• Place reminders of where things are where they can be seen.

Improving life with dementia with support services

As dementia progresses, life becomes more difficult for both the cared for and carer. Introducing outside support can help improve their life and yours. As good as our intentions are, we cannot do it all alone! Trust me, I have been there.

Organisations such as Dementia UK, Alzheimer’s Society are specially trained with experience and can help with advice and support. For example a support worker to offer time, stimulation and trips out can really enhance quality of life for someone with dementia.

Practical help to help within the home, gardening and self care may be needed too. Your new years resolution may incorporate the need to reach out for an assessment of needs from social services to look into what they need to help maintain quality of life.

By incorporating these little things into your new year resolution to help improve life with dementia could help make a real difference to those with dementia and those around them. You may find yourself adding to my short list of suggestions but hopefully it has helped stir your thoughts.

If you have enjoyed reading my blog post, please look at my others with lots of other suggestions, tips and advice; all based on my experiences and help given to me. Sign up to my newsletter to be one of the first to read future posts.