Holiday Tips for Caregivers

By Jane Farrell

Holidays can be meaningful, enriching times for both the person with Alzheimer’s disease and his or her caregiver and family.

Maintaining or adapting family rituals and traditions helps all family members feel a sense of belonging and family identity. For a person with Alzheimer’s, this link with a familiar past is reassuring.

However, there may be a lot of people at celebrations or special events, and this can cause confusion and anxiety for a person with Alzheimer’s. He or she may find some situations easier and more pleasurable than others. Many caregivers have mixed feelings about holidays. They may have happy memories of the past, but they also may worry about the extra demands that holidays make on their time and energy.

These tips from the National Institute on Aging can help you and the person with Alzheimer’s visit and reconnect with family, friends, and neighbors during holidays:

Celebrate holidays that are important to you. Include the person with Alzheimer’s as much as possible.

Set your own limits and be clear about them with others. You do not have to live up to the expectations of friends or relatives. Your situation is different now.

Prepare quiet distractions to use, such as a family photo album.

Involve the person with Alzheimer’s in simple holiday preparations, or have him or her observe your preparations. Observing you will familiarize him or her with the upcoming festivities. Participating with you may give the person the pleasure of helping and the fun of anticipating and reminiscing.

Consider simplifying your holidays around the home. For example, rather than cooking an elaborate dinner, invite family and friends for a potluck. Instead of elaborate decorations, consider choosing a few select items.

Encourage friends and family to visit even if it’s difficult. Limit the number of visitors at any one time, or have a few people visit quietly with the person in a separate room. Plan visits when the person usually is at his or her best.

Prepare quiet distractions to use, such as a family photo album, if the person with Alzheimer’s becomes upset or overstimulated.

Make sure there is a space where the person can rest when he or she goes if the gathering becomes overwhelming. Also, try to stay away from noise, loud conversations, loud music, lighting that is too bright or too dark, and having too much rich food or drink (especially alcohol).

Find time for holiday activities you like to do. If you receive invitations to celebrations that the person with Alzheimer’s cannot attend, go yourself. Ask a friend or family member to spend time with the person while you’re out.

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