#005: How To Create Moments of Joy and Loving Memories in Dementia Care

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Show Notes:

Experiencing moments of joy, revolves around integrating purposeful activities and meaningful engagement into you and your loved one’s daily life.

Having purpose and meaning is what defines who we are.

With it we feel full and invigorated, but without it, we feel empty, lonely, and likely depressed.

As humans, we naturally seek the companionship of others as part of our well being.

We all want to feel loved, wanted, and part of something. And you and your loved one are no different.

Our goal with this lesson is to help you learn to create purposeful activities and meaningful engagement where you and your loved one stay mentally and physically active and engaged.

These moments of joy will also benefit each of you by improving your health through mental and physical stimulation, avoiding loneliness and depression, minimizing negative behaviors, from both of you, and again, helping you create new, positive loving memories.

It can also help your loved one maintain their independence and dignity.

However, as their primary care partner, you may be so overwhelmed by the responsibility of caregiving, that the fun of being together is lost.

All engagement tends to be for survival and not for enrichment. This often results in a negative atmosphere affecting the mood of everyone, including the person with Alzheimer’s.

Left unchecked, the tensions will likely lead to behavioral issues from each of you, resulting in an unhappy relationship.

Sometimes, there may be very little positive interaction because you are simply too busy trying to keep the house together while caring for them.

A lack of human interaction coupled with no purposeful activity will likely lead to boredom, and this often results in challenging behaviors that cause additional strain between each of you.

Of course, you want your loved one to be happy, and you want to see them smile and hear them laugh. And you want, and deserve, to feel these positive emotions as well.

You want to be sure to include activities they enjoy and want to do.

You must also include activities you enjoy and want to do.

Activities must be adapted to each person’s abilities, and the level of support adjusted accordingly.

Creating an environment that fosters these positive feelings will take hard work, but it can be achieved. And it has been achieved by families who have learned to stop fighting the disease, and to adapt to it instead.