Person-Centered Dementia Care Activities
Each person has a life story that is unique to the development of who they are. One of the main hardships of dementia is that a person loses their memories and with them, their sense of identity. With person-centered dementia care, the goal is to center the person within their life story through activities that bring out the best aspects of their personality.
The caregivers at Alegre Home Care create personalized care plans in order to provide the best care possible for each individual. Utilizing activities that are appropriate for people who have dementia is one part of multifaceted in-home care services.
Why Are Dementia Care Activities Important?
Dementia is a progressive disease. While there is no cure, there are activities and therapies that can slow cognitive decline, relieve symptoms of depression, and reduce anxiety. Dementia care activities provide:
Mental stimulation
Increased socialization
Improved mental health
A decrease in challenging behaviors
Improved sleep quality
Meaning and purpose
Improved sense of self worth
Physical activity, which is good for overall health
Keeping people with dementia engaged and active within their daily lives will help them retain the core aspects of their personality, even as the disease progresses.
How To Plan Dementia Care Activities
The well-being of the person receiving care is always the priority. When planning dementia care activities, it is important to assess where the person is at cognitively and physically. Understanding what might trigger negative emotions or behaviors, such as loud noises, will also help the activities go smoothly. This is why personalized care is so beneficial — the caregiver is familiar with all the unique aspects about the people in their care, and how dementia affects each person in different ways.
Some tips for planning activities include consulting with the person’s family for recommendations, incorporating activities into a daily routine, adding variety to the activities, and planning the activities in advance. Dementia care also requires the ability to adapt. Activities may not always go as planned, and that’s okay. The important thing is to make sure the person receiving care is benefitting from the activities.
Most importantly, caregivers can make it a priority to understand each person’s life story. People who have dementia are not always able to communicate their preferences, or their likes and dislikes. Knowing their life story will help caregivers create activities that will resonate with each person. For example, did they play music? If so, what was their favorite genre of music to play? This would make a difference between simply playing music for them and playing music that they love.
Personalized Dementia Care Plans
With personalized care plans, Alegre Home Care provides individuals with the ability to age or recover from the comfort of their own home. Our caregivers in San Francisco and the surrounding areas receive the best training and attend to each person with compassion, empathy, and respect.
To learn more about our expert home care in San Francisco and the nearby areas, book a free consultation with Alegre Home Care. Call (800) 598-4777 to get started!
Examples of Person-Centered Dementia Care Activities
Remember: the art of activities is not in what is done, it's in the doing. A caregiver's role in facilitating activities is to make sure that each step is beneficial to the client and is adding to their quality of life. For example, the caregiver will initiate the activity, break it up into parts if needed, retain awareness at all times of how the person is being affected by the activity, make adjustments when needed, provide materials, and so forth.
Some examples of dementia care activities include puzzles, making arts and crafts, listening to music, singing, reading stories, playing music, moderate exercise like walking, dancing, cooking, and looking through photo albums. The possibilities for activities are really endless, and a qualified caregiver will understand how to choose the best activities for each individual.
The beauty of taking a person-centered approach with dementia care activities is that it not only incorporates a person's life story, it adds to their story, too.
