My husband lived in a memory care home for the last two years of his life. He loved to walk around with a Walkman and listen to his favorite music. (This was 15 years ago before earbuds were available, or at least before we knew about them.) Morris had a grin on his face as he listened to Nina Simone and his other favorite singers. It made him happy, and it triggered smiles amongst the caregivers to see him sing and sometimes break into a dance.
But when the TV in the common room blasted negative news or violent or scary movies, the residents responded in kind. Some would act out by yelling, squabbling, or arguing. The atmosphere would instantly change from calm to hyper, and sometimes out of control.
People with dementia are sensitive to the environment, so it’s in their best interest not to be exposed to a loud, scary, or violent movie. It’s also best to refrain from bringing them to a place that’s rowdy or filled with cigarette smoke. It may be hard for your loved one to distinguish between fiction and reality. If a movie, TV show, or news broadcast is about someone dying in a car crash or from a disease, the person with Alzheimer’s may think that someone in their own family is the victim. Or if the story is fiction, the person may think it’s real and get upset. The reaction could result in a flood of tears, anxiety, fear, and/or distress.
Boredom can also lead to stress. If your loved one is bored they may tune out or act out. Try to engage your loved one in a stimulating activity or exercise. Walk around the block or in a park, play catch, or put on some music and dance. Whatever you do, try to have fun.
26 activities that provide entertainment
Work together on a jigsaw puzzle with bigger rather than smaller pieces
Invite friends or family over for tea
Watch a football game or opera — whatever your loved one enjoys
Have a Zoom meeting with one or two family members or friends. More than that can cause confusion.
Watch a sitcom or favorite movie
Listen to music
Bake a healthy dessert
Carve a pumpkin
Make a pie
Create greeting cards
Play an instrument and sing familiar songs
Watch family videos
Go for a walk in the woods or around a lake
Make a snowman
Fill a bird feeder and observe the birds
Go to a nature preserve
Visit a plant nursery, plant a garden
Give a manicure and/or foot massage
Look through photo albums
Rake leaves
Sit on the front porch and sip lemonade or hot chocolate and wave or talk to passersby
Go to a dog park and enjoy watching the dogs
Play checkers or dominoes
Read a favorite book aloud
Make a collage with pictures cut from a magazine
Pain with watercolors
The weather is typically beautiful in the autumn. Get out and enjoy the leaves!
During the early stages of Alzheimer’s, your loved one might continue to enjoy their favorite activities. But as the disease progresses, he or she will probably withdraw from activity.
If you’re a caregiver taking care of someone at home, this is when things become challenging. How do you keep your loved one engaged without getting stressed and frustrated?
I hired someone to take my husband out a couple times a week for a drive, walk, movie, ice cream, etc. If you can afford it, and can ensure safety measures during the pandemic, respite care can help ease the boredom of watching TV all day. And it can help you get out of the house to do errands, go to doctor appointments, or just take a walk.
Whether you’re a full-time caregiver or occasionally drop in to visit a friend or loved one with Alzheimer’s, here are some activities to try.
Decorating a box allows the artist to reflect his/her persona or face that is shown to the outside world on the outside of the box. Decorating the inside of the box is an opportunity to express the internal feelings and conflicts that are private or feel too big to find words to express. Use whatever materials that are available to decorate the outside of the box, and then the inside of the box to express these feelings.
Outside Box: How do you experience being around others with your loved one? What do you share with the outside world about your process/how do you share?
Inside Box: What is really going on inside of you each day? What isn’t shared with others that have an impact on you?
What has this process, or your imagery expressed to you? What kinds of responses are you having?
Daily or Weekly Mandalas
A mandala is a circular image. It begins with a circle drawn on a page. It can be any size and any media can be used.
Materials:
Paper: Bristol, Watercolor, or mixed media (6×6 is a great size)
It is small enough to be done in a brief sitting, and large enough to have room for several images or areas of focus.
Pencils, markers, watercolor, colored pencil, pastels, or crayons are all great.
A version of mandala exists in many spiritual traditions (rose windows in Cathedrals, Navajo and Tibetan sand paintings, Buddhist imagery, etc.) Mandalas can be used to support focusing attention, as a self check-in tool, to express emotions in a contained space (circle), for establishing a sacred space, and to aid in mindfulness and mediation. Carl Jung, through his own art process, came to realize that mandala paintings enabled him to identify dysfunctional emotional patterns and work towards integration and wholeness.
Color-Texture-Pattern Feelings Portrait
This process is about awareness of how much is going on in each of us at any given moment. It is an opportunity to just GET IT OUT through color, movement, and expression. The imagery is usually abstract. It is the process of expressing that is beneficial here, not the finished product. Feelings are difficult to have, and when they are expressed visually they can be difficult to look at. But that is okay. If you use this process, when you are finished, take a moment to witness it like a loving friend. Then just set it aside. If your image invites a redo or edit, you can come back to it and work with it, even tear it up and re-create it. If not, let it go. The materials will support you to express emotions and that is their purpose sometimes …. to help you create something that is not necessarily pretty, but honest. That is their gift to you.
Materials:
Small to medium paper, mixed media paper is sturdy. Taped to surface is best. When you prep ask yourself, What size is my expression today? That will tell you what paper size to use.
Pencils, markers, watercolor, colored pencil, pastels, or crayons are all great.
This can be done between 5 and 25 minutes. It is simply the process of choosing colors and making textures and patterns that express the layers of feeling present. Let the speed and movement be an extension of your expression. It will be unique every time.
Two Inch Window Drawing
The goal is to work with detail and discernment to create a bird’s eye view. Another way to use this tool is one of magnification, to zoom in to one aspect of something larger; examples could be to feel a single sensation, filling a small (contained) space with just what is magnified. Used as a daily or coping practice it may serve to redirect concentration or focus energy and attention, provide containment while titrating an intense sensation. They take between 1-10 minutes to complete. Think Macro and Micro… what would be most helpful, to step back or lean in?
Materials:
Paper: Bristol, watercolor, or mixed media (2×2 or 4×4)
Card stock scraps come in several colors, and can usually be found at craft stores.
This drawing is small enough to be done in a brief sitting, and can even be a single set of colors.
Process: Journey Drawing
Materials:
Paper: Bristol, watercolor, or mixed media (6×6 or larger)
Collage materials, or a material you enjoy (fabric, craft papers, natural materials, etc.)
Chalk/oil pastels, pencil, watercolor
Where are you in this journey? Emotionally … physically . . .personally . . . socially? Is there stuckness . . . is there movement? What colors, shapes, textures represent where you are right now? What colors feel supportive of your journey or give you strength? What emotions are present for you about your current life, about being a caregiver? Can you think of any supportive guides/helpers that you have met along the way? How has your identity or personality been challenged or changed in this process? Who in your life is accepting these changes, who in your life are having difficulty accepting the changes?
What has this process, or your imagery expressed to you? If you had a chance to respond to it, what kinds of responses are you having? Are you in a different place in your journey than you assumed/thought/hoped? What are the qualities of where you feel you are in your journey as a caregiver? As you have moved through different stages, what has each stage offered you?
Lastly, choose a color that feels strengthening, a color that will help you move into the next stage of your journey. Now create a final piece of you drawing that will offer you strength and power when you look at it. Be one of the helpers for yourself in this moment of your journey.
6. Process: Breath Drawing
Materials:
Oil pastels or chalk pastels
Large paper
Your breath With one color in each hand, draw your breath. Notice the qualities of your in breath (short, stunted, deep, long, interrupted, fast, shallow) and allow your hands and the colors to express it. Same with the exhale. What are the qualities present in your out breath? Move each hand/arm in a circular motion with the expression, notice how the lines change over time. Notice similarities and any shifts. Follow your own breath with soft awareness.
What has this process, or your imagery expressed to you? What kinds of responses are you having?
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