Now that Thanksgiving was here-Black Friday and Cyber Monday have both come and gone, a lot of us are in the full swing of buying gifts for family and friends. BUT, what about our loved one living with some type of dementia? What could they possibly need? They have everything. They wouldn't even know if we bought them a gift...they won't even know it's the holidays. They literally don't need a thing. Sound familiar? Probably, I have heard all of this before and it can be very stressful to think about.
We wanted to take this opportunity to share some suggestions and hopefully alleviate some of your stress during this time of year so that you have more time for what's important-spending time with our loved ones.
Now, a lot will go into the type of gift you buy. Do you want your gift to provide an activity or something for your loved one to do? Do you want it to provide comfort or help relieve anxiety? Do you want it to solve a problem? How far along in the disease process or what stage are they? Where do they live-this could make a difference whether a certain gift would be appropriate or not? What are their skills and abilities, as we would never want to set them up for failure? Many other things can go into buying a gift.
Here are 20 gift ideas for your loved one living with some type of dementia and they cover all of the different stages and a lot of different types of gifts you could want:
simple remote for the tv
different fidget object options
different phone options
wandering products
one button radio
seated exercise videos
games
clock with reminders
busy boards with activities
puzzles
essential oils for aromatherapy
diffuser for essential oils
activity lap blanket or apron
robotic or animated companion pet
weighted blanket or wrap
playing cards
baby dolls or therapy dolls
music
books (on tape, picture books, books specific to different decades)
adult coloring books
We know what you're thinking-this is a very general list and you don't have any products linked for us to click on. Yes, you are correct. That's because our site isn't promoting any particular products at this time.
So, how and where do you go about finding these things? Simple. Just google 'Alzheimer's products', 'dementia products', 'dementia therapy products' and you will find some good websites.
If you have purchased anything from anywhere in particular and want to share what it was or where it was from, feel free to do so in comments. We would love the feedback!
Happy shopping and Happy Holidays!