7 Dementia-Friendly Activities All the Family Will Enjoy

Connecting with a family member with dementia is extremely important for their own sake, but can also be challenging, especially when memory loss is accompanied by speech difficulties and changes in mood or personality. If you have a family member or close friend suffering from dementia and you’re struggling to stay connected with them, know that you’re not alone. There are over 55 million dementia sufferers in the world, and the majority of those people have family and friends.

Remember that there are many ways you can spend quality time with a loved one with dementia, even if you can’t engage in activities you once enjoyed together today. In this post, we list a few excellent dementia-friendly family activities and provide tips that will help you decide what would work best for your family. How to Choose the Best Activities

When it comes to choosing the best types of activities for your friend or family member, there’s no universal answer or prepared list. We’re all individuals with our own character, preferences, hobbies, and lifestyle, and the kinds of activities that bring joy and meaning to your family member should fit their personality. Here are a few tips to consider when choosing a family activity with someone suffering from dementia: 

 

*Take your family member’s unique skills into account. Did your spouse travel a lot or worked in a field that required specific skills before their diagnosis? Do they have hobbies, sports, or social interests they cherish? The answers to these questions can give you a clue as to what kinds of activities they would probably enjoy most. Don’t be in a rush. Give the person time and space to complete the activity on hand at their own pace. If necessary, break down each activity into actionable and simple steps, and remind each step as they progress. 

 

*Be ready to change course. Your family member’s abilities may change from time to time. One day they may enjoy or be successful at a specific activity, but they can find it difficult or stressful to do so the next day. If that happens, switch gears and focus on a different activity. 

 

*Focus on activities that are realistic but not boring. A key to real connection and fun is balance. Both boredom and frustration can kill your family member’s interest in an activity. Ideally, they should find meaning and value in the activity while also being capable to complete the tasks it requires. 

 

*Tap into activities that activate motor memory. Actions and movements tend to stick around in the human brain for a really long time. Training and maintaining such actions, even if it’s small things like household chores, walking, or gardening, is often very beneficial for dementia sufferers, as it helps them feel capable, useful, and more connected to others. 

 

* Adapt to your family member’s daily schedule. If you can only meet with your loved one in the afternoon but you know that they’re most active during the morning hours, don’t drag them on a walk. Choose a different, more relaxing activity like puzzle-solving instead. 

 

Now, let’s move on to the recommended family activities you can enjoy with a loved one with dementia. We list 7 of such activities in this article and explain why they’re beneficial, but you can find many other suggestions here on the Alzheimer’s Association Website. 

 

1. Open the trusty family photo archive

It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical photo album or a digital one, taking the time to sit down and look through cherished family memories captured on film can be a meaningful experience for the entire family. Old memories have the tendency to be retained for a longer time, so even a family member with advanced dementia can sometimes tap into these long-term memories through visual stimuli like photos or videos. Remembering the fun and memorable occasions together can help strengthen your family bonds. 

 

2. Listen to music

On a similar note, listening to music together or watching live performances of your loved one’s favorite musician can tap into old memories. Nostalgia is a powerful force. If there is a special song or artist you always listen to or dance to together, turn it on whenever your loved one needs to lift their mood. You can even compile a playlist of your loved one’s favorite songs and play them regularly. 

 

In fact, there’s even research suggesting that music can help dementia sufferers evade depression and slow down cognitive decline. Dancing to upbeat nostalgic tunes is also extremely helpful, as many dementia sufferers tend to retain a sense of rhythm longer than many other abilities.

 

3. Plan a movie night

Do you have a family tradition of watching the same movie with your sibling at Christmastime? Or maybe, one of the first dates you went with your spouse included a trip to the cinema… Just like dancing, photos, and music, familiar films can rekindle seemingly lost memories. Rewatching cinema classics with the entire family is a terrific tradition and relaxing activity everyone will enjoy.

4. Do housework or cook together

Housework may not sound particularly exciting to you, but your family member with dementia may find comfort and confidence in such regular activities. These regular activities will keep your family member moving and provide tactile experiences that feel familiar. Instead of feeling depressed, this can make your loved one feel useful. 

 

The best suitable household tasks are simple, repetitive, and such that can be done together, for example: 

-Folding laundry 

- Sweeping 

- Vacuuming 

- Organizing the wardrobe 

- Doing dishes 

- Wiping down countertops 

- Cooking family recipes.  

 

5. Take a walk

The benefits of walks are plenty, and it’s a simple activity you can practice with your loved one year-round. When the weather is sunny, you can go on a nature walk or a walk through the park or the neighborhood, and when it’s overcast, you can walk through the local mall or enjoy a trip to the botanical garden. 

 

Even if your loved one is in a wheelchair, getting some fresh air will be beneficial for them, and it can spark a conversation about the weather and the surroundings. Remember that spending time with your loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s outdoors is quite important, as they cannot go on walks and trips on their own.

 6. Enjoy a fun board game or card game

Brain teasers and intellectual games are the perfect fit for dementia patients. According to professionals, incorporating mental stimulation together with social activities in daily life can help dementia and Alzheimer’s patients retain their cognitive abilities for a longer time. 

 

Whenever choosing a game, it’s best to focus on familiar and simple ones like Scrabble, Chutes and Ladders, Dominoes, Bingo, or classic card games like Go Fish. New games may confuse your loved ones with dementia or make them frustrated or stressed. Similarly, don’t be hard on a family member if they make an odd mistake in the rules or forget someone’s name. It’s best to just let small errors like these slide. 

 

7. Have family fun with puzzles

If you’ve got more than an hour or two of family time available, working on a puzzle is an activity you should definitely consider. These can be traditional picture puzzles, crosswords, or even 3D puzzle toys - there’s a huge variety of puzzles available these days both in stores and online. Like other games, puzzles are a great mental workout that will preserve your loved one’s cognition for a longer time. Plus they’re fun for both kids and adults, so the entire family will be able to enjoy an evening with puzzles.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Exercising while pregnant may yield benefits once the woman finally gives birth, at least according to a new study.

Researchers from Spain divided around 500 women into two groups — the first group was asked to participate in moderate exercise sessions three times a week with the help of a professional. Their routine was based on recommendations by the Obstetricians.

Meanwhile, the other group had no such physical intervention, merely routine education about proper nutrition and physical activity during prenatal checkups.

Exercise May Lead To Shorter Labor Periods

The results? Women who exercised even just three times per week while they're pregnant are more likely to experience shorter labor than those who don't. The researchers discovered significant changes when it comes to the labor room. The first stage was, on average, 53 minutes shorter for the women who exercised compared with the other group.

The changes go beyond the first stage. The total average labor time of the first group was also nearly an hour shorter than the other group. Plus the woman who exercised were also less likely to require an epidural, a procedure where a drug or contrast agent is injected into the spinal cord's epidural space to block pain.

"A supervised physical exercise program throughout pregnancy decreased the duration of the first phase of labor as well as total time of the first two phases together, leading to a decrease in total labor time," the study concludes.

Another difference between the two groups the researchers noticed was that the women who didn't exercise during their pregnancy reported higher weight gain.

Exercising While Pregnant

Exercise is an important part of pregnancy. The government recommends that pregnant women engage in physical activity for at least 2 hours and 30 minutes each week. These activities include brisk-walking, dancing, housework, and other chores. The CDC says "you can break it up into smaller chunks of time during the day. As long as you're doing your activity at a moderate or vigorous effort for at least 10 minutes at a time."

Needless to say that pregnant women should not partake in exercises willy-nilly. They must first approach their doctor to avoid complications as much as possible. Especially for women who already have certain diseases, exercising might cause more harm than good. Pregnant women who were very active before their pregnancy may continue doing the same physical activities but must first check with their health care provider.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                      PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/   

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Listen to music while exercising to lose weight !

Listening to music while exercising can help you work out for a longer time than those who do not have music playing in their ears, a team of researchers, including one of Indian origin, suggested. Music can have a powerful impact on our mood, signalling the brain to release feel-good and energy-boosting chemicals.

Being inactive or not exercising ranks alongside high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity as one of the five major risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

"At least on a small scale, this study provides some evidence that music may help serve as an extra tool to help motivate someone to exercise more, which is critical to heart health," said lead author.

For the study,  the team randomly selected 127 heart patients in two groups for a routine electrocardiogram (ECG) treadmill stress test and assigned to either listen to up-tempo music or have no music playing during their stress tests.

The results showed that the exercise time was significantly longer in the music group compared with the control group, 505.8 versus 455.2 seconds, respectively -- an absolute difference of about 50.6 seconds.

Adults need to get at least 30 minutes of moderate (aerobic) activity most days, including taking a brisk walk, swimming, playing tennis, riding a bicycle, dancing, water aerobics, gardening and even busy housework, experts suggested.

"Our findings reinforce the idea that upbeat music has a synergistic effect in terms of making you want to exercise longer and stick with a daily exercise routine," the researcher said.

"When doctors are recommending exercise, they might suggest listening to music too," he noted.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    

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