What Makes a Day Meanigful?

[Pennie 26]

What Makes a Day Meaningful?

A meaningful day is a day filled with activities that create a sense of belonging and well-being, are easy to do, and fulfill a purpose. No one likes to be given useless tasks. Remember that your family member held important roles in his/her day, both personal or professional. Try to incorporate some of his/her past roles in everyday situations. Here are some strategies to create a meaningful day for you and your family member.

 

1. Enjoy reminiscing with your family member. Short-term memory may be damaged, but long-term memory often remains. When reminiscing it is helpful to talk about subjects (such as winter snowstorms or making holiday dinners) rather than a specific memory or event or name from the past.
   
2. Recognize the special abilities that remain and enjoy them together.
   
3. Most people, with or without Alzheimer's disease, generally enjoy a good meal, animals, babies, or favorite music.
   
4. People with Alzheimer's disease still enjoy (and need) hugs and other forms of affection. Sit close and look at pictures together. Enjoy a hand massage.
   
5. Look for activities that will be interesting to the person. In seeking activities the individual would enjoy, it helps to think about past work experiences and past and present interests.
   
6. Do activities that are failure-free. A SIMPLE craft project with a pre-set outcome or appearance may be too difficult, whereas arranging silk flowers in a vase is a failure-free task. Sanding wood blocks is usually failure-free. Setting the table is as well.
   
7. Reduce distractions so the person can focus on the task, eliminating things such as background noise from the television.
   
8. Keep exercise and physical activity part of everyday as it helps keep sleep and nighttime habits normal.
   
9. Familiar activities such as setting the table and folding laundry should be part of the daily routine that the person with Alzheimer's disease helps do. The tasks are meaningful, familiar activities which help him/her retain skills as long as possible.
   
10. If music, exercise, or spiritual activities were part of your family member's routine each week, those type of activities should occur frequently during the week as well.
    

source: http://behomelivelife.wordpress.com/