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Holiday Visits With Memory Care Residents

Holiday Visits With Memory Care Residents

Holidays are the perfect opportunity to spend time together as a family, and this means visiting loved ones in senior living communities is even more important as the year comes to an end.

These visits are really important to residents’ well-being, but sometimes people are intimidated because they don’t know how to communicate with someone who is in memory care. We’ve put together a list of helpful tips that will help you navigate these visits and make it easier for everyone to spend some quality time together.

  1. Visit regularly – Set realistic expectations of how often you will visit, and then stick to it. Unexpected situations will come up, and that’s OK. Just be sure to communicate this to your loved one and their care provider.
  2. Be positive – Being warm and affectionate during your visits is important to your loved one’s mental well-being. Research shows that loneliness is a major health problem, and these visits can really help brighten your loved one’s day.
  3. Put together a visit bag – Fill this bag with photos, videos, news stories he or she might be interested in, etc. Is there a celebrity he or she really likes keeping up with, is he or she a huge sports fan? Bring newspaper clippings or fun facts about it! Everyone loves thoughtful details like these.
  4. Take a walk – If it’s nice out and your loved one is able to, go for a walk together! Going on a walk is a great way to keep the body and mind active. Just moving out of the room and getting a fresh change of scenery can be a huge mood booster.
  5. Don’t be intimidated by Alzheimer’s or dementia – Remember that patience is key, even if you have to repeat things from time to time. Find out what brings out the best mood with your loved one – a certain genre of music, photos, a specific room, and repeat it every visit.

Remember that these visits can provide wonderful opportunities for you and your loved one to bond, learn from each other and even make new memories.

If you think your loved one might be ready to transition into memory care, we’re here to help guide you through this process. With ISL’s Generations Memory Care program, our goal is to ease this transition and provide the best-quality care specialized to meet each of our residents’ needs.

Visit our communities page to find the location closest to you, and give us a call to learn more about our Generations Memory Care program.