Dementia progresses differently for everyone, so finding activities that engage your loved one can be a challenge. This guide provides engaging ideas tailored for the early, middle, and late stages of dementia, helping you maintain a connection and improve their quality of life at every step.
Christopher Ravn
Christopher Ravn is head of Revenue Operations at OptoCeutics and holds a Master's in Biomedical Engineering.
Key Takeaways
1. It is crucial to provide good activities for patients who are in the late stages of dementia. This is so that they can have a sense of comfort and engagement and enhance their well-being.
2. Engaging someone with severe dementia entails understanding, adaptation, and a lot of patience.
3. It is important to provide a familiar and comfortable environment to help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety while getting the patients to feel engaged.
Table of Contents
1. What Are Good Activities For Late Stage Dementia?
2. What Are The Best Activities For Late-Stage Dementia?
3. How To Entertain Dementia Patients At Home?
4. What Are Passive Activities For Dementia Patients?
5. How Do You Keep A Dementia Person Busy?
6. What Activities Can You Do For Aggressive Dementia Patients?
7. Activities For All 7 Stages Of Dementia?
8. Frequently Asked Questions About Activities For Late Stage Dementia
What Are Good Activities For Late Stage Dementia?
It is crucial to provide good activities for patients who are in the late stages of dementia. This is so that they can have a sense of comfort and engagement and enhance their well-being. Patients who are in the late stages may face extreme memory loss, difficulty communicating, and decreased mobility. Here are some activities for late-stage dementia patients:
- Sensory activities such as gentle touch or listening to calm music, playing with tactile objects, and smelling familiar scents or essential oils.
- Creative arts such as drawing, painting, coloring, working on puzzles, and creating scrapbooks.
- Music and movement by listening to their favorite music or singing to it, doing gentle stretches or exercises, and watching a music performance.
- Reminiscence therapy such as looking at old photos, favorite movies, and sharing fond memories.
How To Engage Someone With Severe Dementia?
Engaging someone with severe dementia entails understanding, adaptation, and a lot of patience. Thus, it is important to understand strategies for engagement as follows:
- Evoking their senses through smell, taste, sound, and touch.
- Use objects, people, or routines that they are familiar with to ensure safety and comfort.
- Provide gentle exercises such as stretching or walking using objects like a cane or a walker, if possible.
- Use clear and simple language and provide emotional support to make them feel validated.
The importance of patience and understanding when interacting with a patient with severe dementia helps to:
- Reduce frustration and allow the patient to respond
- Provides an avenue to not take things personally or feel frustrated.
Let us look at some examples of effective engagement techniques:
- Sensory techniques include allowing the dementia patient to pet a soft animal or feel different types of textures.
- Stimulate fond memories by allowing them to listen to their favorite music.
- Allow them to draw and paint to express themselves and be creative.
- Provide a space for them to cook and garden to evoke a sense of purpose.
What Activities Are Good For Dementia?
Activities that are good for dementia patients can be broken down into physical, sensory, and cognitive abilities:
- Physical activities could range from walking, swimming, dancing, yoga, tai chi, and gardening. These activities may enhance cardiovascular health, reduce the risk of falling, improve mobility, and boost patients mood.
- Cognitive activities that are designed to engage the mind, such as memory games and puzzles, crosswords, reading, writing, learning a new skill or playing card or board games. The benefits range from enhancing critical thinking, reducing cognitive issues, boosting confidence, and social engagement and interaction.
- Sensory activities are beneficial for enhancing the senses. This can be done through music and art therapy, stimulating the senses through taste, touch, and smell. Gardening, and other activities tied to nature, such as cooking and baking. These activities may provide a sense of enjoyment, reduce anxiety and stress, boost engagement and interaction, and provide an opportunity to express themselves.
What Are The Best Activities For Late-Stage Dementia?
The best activities for late-stage dementia are crucial, as they may benefit from sensory and emotional experiences. Here are some top-recommended activities for late-stage dementia:
- Arts and crafts such as painting, coloring, and working on puzzles. This may assist with providing a sense of achievement and expressing oneself.
- Soothing and comforting tactile activities such as untying knots, playing with wooden tools, or engaging with different textures.
- Music therapy for dementia and art assist dementia patients in stimulating memories, emotions, and sense of expression.
- Using sensors such as tasting, touching, and smelling to ignite positive and fond memories.
These activities are beneficial because they provide a means to express oneself, reduce a sense of anxiety and depression, stimulate cognitive function, and foster a sense of autonomy and familiarity. To implement these activities effectively, you can:
- Break down complex tasks into simple and clear instructions.
- Use visual aids and colors to assist dementia patients in following through.
- Provide tailored activities that are customized according to their interest
- Offer support and assistance but ensure that patients feel a sense of independence overall.
How To Entertain Dementia Patients At Home?
To entertain dementia patients at home, let us look at some home-based activities that may help you achieve this:
- Activities that patients are familiar with from the past are enjoyable and help reduce frustration and anxiety.
- DIY projects such as wood painting or fixing PVC pipe help dementia patients work on their motor function and provide a sense of accomplishment.
- Folding laundries may help keep dementia patients calm because of the soft materials and scent of the detergents.
It is important to provide a familiar and comfortable environment to help reduce feelings of stress and anxiety while getting the patients to feel engaged. To achieve a comfortable environment, you can try to use:
- Familiar objects or decorations to provide comforting memories.
- Providing a sense of security through daily routines.
- Minimizes distractions and reduces noise levels.
Sensory Activities For Seniors With Dementia?
Sensory activities for seniors with dementia help engage the five senses, such as taste, smell, touch, sight, and sound. It is very helpful to ensure a connection with their environment and helps reduce anxiety, agitation, and anger while enhancing social interaction, emotional well-being, and cognitive function.
Examples of sensory activities are:
- Taste: Let patients taste their favorite foods and drinks and participate in cooking activities.
- Smell: Use essential oils, flowers or scented candles
- Touch: Hand massages, playing with soft toys, or gentle strokes
- Sight: Look at old images and videos or participate in arts and crafts
- Sound: Listen to their favorite music or calming sounds
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What Are Passive Activities For Dementia Patients?
Passive activities for dementia patients are suitable for them because they do not require patients to participate in something physical. They are designed to be engaging and calming for dementia patients, thus reducing stress, anxiety, and aggression.
Examples of passive activities are music therapy, massages, aromatherapy, pet therapy, storytelling, playing with different sensory experiences, and looking at nature. These activities can be engaging by:
- Allowing patients to feel sensations such as nostalgia, calmness or joy.
- Stimulate all five senses
- Provide means to socialize through music and art
- Trigger positive memories and make the activities meaningful.
Why Do Activities For Late-Stage Dementia Still Matter?
Activities for late-stage dementia patients are important because they have a positive impact on the patient’s mental and emotional well-being.
- Engaging and stimulating activities may help reduce stress and depression.
- Helps improve mood
- Provide a sense of responsibility and accomplishment
- Maintain a sense of community and boost social interaction.
How Do You Keep A Dementia Person Busy?
Here are some practical tips for keeping dementia patients busy:
- Create a routine that incorporates a list of activities, including physical, social, and leisure activities.
- Get patients to participate in daily chores such as folding clothes and washing dishes.
- Allow them to participate in activities they enjoy, such as music or reading
- Ensure that tasks are safe and simple
- Adjust if dementia patients start getting bored or irritable.
A daily routine that could incorporate these routines could look like this:
- Morning: Start with exercises that involve stretching and personal care, such as dressing.
- Late morning: Allow patients to read or listen to music, play puzzles or watch a movie
- Afternoon: Get patients to work on chores such as folding laundry or helping to prepare a meal.
- Evening: Encourage patients to participate in group activities such as art class or watch movies together.
- Late evening: Allow patients to wind down by reading, meditating, or doing light stretches.
How To Keep The Hands Of Dementia Patients' Busy
Dementia patients suffer from anxiety, restlessness, and aggression, so it is important to keep their hands busy. Examples of activities for hand engagement are:
- Painting, drawing, coloring, and other types of arts and crafts.
- Hand exercises such as finger bending, twisting, and stretching.
- Working on jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, and card games.
- Playing with kinetic sand, rice, and playdough.
- Playing with musical instruments such as the piano, maracas, or tambourine.
The benefits of keeping the patient’s hands busy are that it helps to provide a sense of purpose, improve dexterity, reduce agitation, boost memory, and promote a sense of accomplishment. To adapt activity to individuals, it is important to:
- Determine the patient’s abilities
- Ensure that activities are simple and engaging by using themes, music, or colors
- Provide support and encouragement as they try their best to comply.
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View Our LightWhat Activities Can You Do For Aggressive Dementia Patients?
It is a challenge to handle aggressive dementia patients. However, there are calming and soothing activities such as:
- Stroking a patient’s arms, hands or face
- Playing classical and nature music that promotes a peaceful environment.
- Reading an encouraging story
- Munching on their favorite food or snacks
- Going for a stroll or a short walk.
Activities For All 7 Stages Of Dementia?
Each levels of cognitive impairment will require a different set of activities. Here is a list of activities for the seven stages of dementia:
- Stage 1 shows no signs of cognitive decline. Patients can participate in their favorite hobbies, socialize, and get involved in daily routines.
- Stage 2 is very mild cognitive decline where patients suffer from mild memory loss and issues with daily tasks. They may participate in activities such as word, puzzle, and memory games.
- Stage 3 is mild cognitive decline. Patients suffer from issues with daily tasks and memory issues. Activities at this stage would be games, puzzles, and cognitive activities that are engaging.
- Stage 4 is early dementia and patients have difficulty with daily tasks and issues with their memory. At this stage, patients may get involved in gentle exercises, simple daily tasks, listen to music, and get involved in arts and crafts.
- Stage 5 is moderate dementia and patients experience severe memory loss and difficulty managing daily tasks. Activities at this level would be gentle exercises and sensory stimulation.
- Stage 6 is severe dementia. Patients experience difficulty with daily activities and severe memory loss. Patients need to participate in simple daily routines, gentle exercises, and sensory stimulation.
- Stage 7 is very severe dementia, and patients suffer from extreme memory loss and are unable to participate in daily tasks. Patients can participate in sensory stimulation, comfort, and gentle exercises.
Therapeutic Activities For 3 Main Stages Of Alzheimer’s Disease?
Therapeutic activities for the three main stages of Alzheimer’s Disease can be customized to provide enhanced cognitive function, social interaction, and emotional well-being. Here are the therapeutic activities for each stage, their examples, and benefits.
- Early stage (mild impairment) is where patients experience mild cognitive decline, and they can get involved in therapeutic activities such as playing memory games, word searches, socializing with friends, or swimming. The benefits of it are that it helps promote social interaction and cognitive function while slowing down cognitive decline.
- Middle stage (moderate impairment) may go through a more severe cognitive decline. Therapeutic activities at this stage involve pet therapy, gentle exercises, slow or free dancing. Benefits of these activities help to promote social interaction, maintain independence, and promote mental stimulation.
- Late stage (severe impairment) of this disease is where patients experience severe cognitive decline, memory loss, and are unable to perform daily tasks. Therapeutic activities would entail paintings, sing-alongs, looking at old pictures or movies, going for a massage or doing gentle stretches. These activities help to promote relaxation, encourage social interaction, and provide comfort.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Activities For Late Stage Dementia
What Are The Best Activities For Late-Stage Dementia?
The best activities for late-stage dementia are crucial, as they may benefit from sensory and emotional experiences. Here are some top-recommended activities for late-stage dementia:
- Arts and crafts such as painting, coloring, and working on puzzles. This may assist with providing a sense of achievement and expressing oneself.
- Soothing and comforting tactile activities such as untying knots, playing with wooden tools, or engaging with different textures.
- Music and art assist dementia patients to stimulate memories, emotions, and sense of expression.
- Using sensors such as tasting, touching, and smelling to ignite positive and fond memories.
How Do You Keep A Dementia Person Busy?
Here are some practical tips for keeping dementia patients busy:
- Create a routine that incorporates a list of activities, including physical, social, and leisure activities.
- Get patients to participate in daily chores such as folding clothes and washing dishes.
- Allow them to participate in activities they enjoy, such as music or reading
- Ensure that tasks are safe and simple
- Adjust if dementia patients start getting bored or irritable.
