Tips To Celebrate Holidays with Seniors in an Assisted Living Facility

Enjoying the holiday season is an important part of the year for many people and the same goes for seniors. If you are looking for ways to celebrate holidays in a senior home, here are some easy tips.

Planning to celebrate the holidays in an assisted living facility?

It can still be a lot of fun. Generally, these retirement communities decorate the facility for the holiday season. Many serve some special, holiday-themed meals too. However, it is your responsibility to ensure that your seniors are enjoying the festive season.

There is a lot you can do for them. Ranging from hosting some special events and activities like movie nights and craft time to some musical performances. Below are some ideas of ways to celebrate the holidays at an assisted living facility.

Visit Them Frequently: During the holiday season, gifts can play to be an important part. But the most important gift you can give is your time. This season make more time for your loved ones. Visit as often as you can and invite others to join you. It will be great to cherish the time you have together.

Decorate Together: Facilities will do their part and will decorate the assisted living homes as per their budget. But why not make your loved one’s apartment full of holiday cheer. You can indulge in some handcrafted decorations, get them involved in making and then decorate their rooms. You can use lights, garland, and most important bring a little Christmas tree to put on a festive mood.

Cook Some Cookies: Just like decoration, you can try baking some cookies together. Of course, you need to seek permission from the authorities in living homes. This can be really fun and you will have fresh cookies to enjoy in the end!

Music Is Must: Every celebration is incomplete without music. So, don’t forget to put on their favorite music and see their face light up. You can also arrange some live performances for them inside the communities.

This holiday season make it wonderful for the residents and help them enjoy the holidays to the fullest. Happy holidays!

PCA - A Form of Dementia That Affects the Vision

We have listed the definition, signs and treatment for a form of dementia that comes with visual problems.

Mr. Wilson, a 59 years old grocery store owner is suffering from dementia. Apart from thwarting his cognitive ability, dementia has affected the way he sees or perceives the world. He can’t see car keys lying in front of him. He mistakes a shadow on the carpet for a hole. Mr. Wilson sometime even sees things that don’t exist in realty. He often sees faces in cluttered pattern.

Mr. Wilson is not alone as there are many dementia patients having their sight plagued with such issues. This condition is termed as posterior cortical atrophy or PCA. With this condition a dementia patient experience problems with their sight which cause them to misinterpret what they see. In some cases the patient can even experience hallucinations.

PCA was first mentioned by neurologist Arnold Pick in 1902. Despite being described a century ago, the disease is still a mystery and medical experts don’t know much about it. This is because PCA is not common and is present in nearly one of every 20 patients suffering with dementia.

Why and How Dementia Affect Vision

Dementia is a set of symptoms that affect mental cognitive functions like memory and reasoning. Some of the common signs of dementia are loss of memory, loss of reasoning and judgment, physical decline and even death.

Then how it can affect sight?

PCA affects occipital lobes that help us understand what we see.

Seeing is a complicated process going through many stages including the one through your brain. Information is transmitted from your eyes to your brain where it is then interpreted, alongside information from your other senses, thought and memories.

This is why you become aware of what you have seen or perceive. If your brain is already affected by dementia, it may be unable to interpret the information from your sight properly. It leads to illusions, misperceptions, and misidentifications in a person. With this condition, you might first approach your eye doctor, but eye tests or changing lenses won't fix the underlying brain problem.

How to Help Your Loved Ones With PCA

Apart from seeking medical assistance, you should lend your help, support and reassurance to aid people living with dementia. This will not only help them manage the condition, but also it creates a safe environment for them.  

Be Careful Towards their Eye Care and Visual Health:

• Take them to regular eye checks and tell the optometrist about their dementia.
• Make sure to keep their glasses clean
• In case of cataracts, talk to an optometrist about treatment.

  

Modifying the Home:

A sight problem can cause several problems for them even at home. For example, they can bump into things or have difficulty reaching things. You will need to make some arrangements in your home:

• Remove clutter
• Apply labels to drawers
• Replace throw rugs with non-skid floor coverings
• Put stickers on glass doors and large windows so that they can see them easily.
• Adequate lighting should be in all rooms with being particular to reducing glare. 

Use Some Practical Tips:

 

• Ask friends and relative to reintroduce themselves, if they fail to recognize them.
• Try to make activities accessible for them. For example, if they enjoy reading, consider reciting a book to them or using audio books. 
• Explain the uses of objects. Ignore any mistakes and try to help them to understand the object while using it.

This is some essential information about the form of dementia that affects vision, known as PCA. Make sure your loved one understands that this might be something that could effect them and to seek medical help if they are concerned.