Keeping a Person With Alzheimer's Active and Happy

For my father it all started several years ago around 1980, before the diagnosis of Alzheimer's was ever made. It was the beginning of his long slow decline with the symptoms of this disease. If you love someone that has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, you're at more of an advantage than I was when my father was diagnosed. Today there is so much more known on how to keep Alzheimer's patients active and as happy as the can be, under the circumstances. With an Alzheimer's sufferer, it's important to keep them physically active, so their mental state will not lead to depression, which is common. Read on to learn a few tips on what to do, and how to do it.

A person with Alzheimer's at the beginning stages of their disease; know what it's like to fail. They know because most of their memories for long term impressions are still intact. Symptoms of Alzheimer's are varied in intensity and timing for different people, the goal is to get a diagnosis as early as possible. When you do, you can plan activities that will help with their mental and physical state.

Here are few tips that I found worked for my father to improve his mental awareness and emotional happiness.

• Going out. My father loved going out and riding in the car, he seemed amazed at the landscape and scenery, especially when we would ride from town out on back country roads. If appropriate, I would let him get out and walk around looking at the trees and sights he found interesting. At Christmas and the other colorful holiday times were his favorite times! He loved looking at the window paintings of children at Halloween, and the fall colors of the leaves as they changed.

• Visiting others. At times, my father loved visiting others, especially the life long friends. He connected with them because enough of his memory was still intact, and he was emotionally content with them. Often he would visit and end up going out to look at their garden of tomatoes, and other vegetables.

• Games. All of my fathers life he loved playing games, whether it was poker or checkers or pool, you could find him looking for someone to play a game with him. As time went on though, he realized he didn't understand and stopped playing them at all. To combat his boredom, my daughter suggested playing her games, and he was very happy. The games were on his level emotionally and cognitively.

• Pet scouting. Dogs were near and dear to my father's heart. Going out to look at puppies was one of his favorite pastimes. Interestingly, he became intent on looking at other types of animals, especially gerbils. You could often find him mentally revisiting a favorite animal, pulled up with a chair at our local pet shop listening and talking back to a trained macaw. It was enchanting for all to watch.

• Old country music classics. Country music was his favorite type, but only the good ole classics, as he called them. He loved to go shopping for the music, and asked me to take him, after he stopped driving. Before he became total disabled from a broken hip, you would find him swaying to the music, and tapping out the beats on the furniture. He was an expert at vacuuming and swaying. Also, it comforted him during his emotional swings and depression.

The key to keeping your loved one content emotionally and physically is to find and modify things that they loved in the past. It's a joy and honor to be able to sit back and watch them succeed and enjoy life.

An excellent book that's now out of print, but can be found through a library is by Carmel Sheridan, Failure-Free Activities for the Alzheimer's Patient. I used this book and found the ideas helpful and insightful. Some of the tips are at http://www.alzwell.com and there are lots of books at your local bookstore to browse through for ideas on Alzheimer's too.