If you have a loved one living with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia, your holidays will look different. That’s okay. It’s a new chapter.
For Caregivers > Care Tips
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Sheryl and Trish looking at cards together on Trish’s 70th birthday in 2009
If you have a loved one living with Alzheimer’s or another type of dementia, your holidays will look different. That’s okay. It’s a new chapter.
We’ve put together five pages of easy-to-read Christmas carol lyrics to help you and your family experience the joy of connecting with each other as you sing together.
I will always remember how my aunt Sue’s face lit up when she heard the sound of my uncle Dale’s voice.
While caring for her husband who had Alzheimer’s, Polly Burns learned to cherish moments of love and laughter along the way.
Family and friends need to get involved. Sometimes that just means being around, seeing what needs to be done, and doing what you can to ease the burden … if even only for a moment.
A loving daughter shares about caring for her parents who are both living with dementia.
Fun, practical, family-friendly holiday activities with someone who has Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.
A woman encourages her mother to keep visiting her husband living with dementia, even after he seems unable to recognize her.
Holiday celebrations help keep your family connected. Treasure new memories. Feel the love. Cherish each moment of joy.
Dementia creates ambiguous loss. Your loved one is here, but not here. It’s confusing. There’s no timetable, so no sense of closure.
Kim Foster helps care for her mother-in-law, Alice, who is living with dementia. Reflecting on an especially challenging stretch during the pandemic, she says: “It was the toughest three months I’ve ever spent caring for someone. But it was completely worth it.”
When caring for a loved one living with dementia, learn to look at things in a new way. It’s easy to overlook the little things, but those little things may make a big difference.
Sending handmade cards and personal notes can help families stay connected during the Alzheimer’s journey.
Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia, so sometimes people use one term to mean the other. It’s more accurate to refer to say “Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.”
Tips for watching musical movies together, helping your family stay connected during the Alzheimer’s journey.
Review of “No Sad Songs” by Frank Morelli, a young adult book that deals with the topic of a teenager caring for a loved one living with dementia.
Mary Sue Wilkinson, founder of Singing Heart to Heart, shares her 5 tips for how to include music when visiting a person living with dementia.
Music connects us with our memories and with each other. It’s an essential part of life, so it’s an essential part of dementia care.
Develop new habits for talking with someone who has Alzheimer’s. Learn to cherish each new conversation.
One simple smile can express love, kindness, approval, and encouragement. Smiles connect when words fail.
As Trish used her teaching skills, she taught us it was okay to look for new ways of doing things.
You may think someone who has Alzheimer’s has lost the ability to talk. But a certain word or song, or maybe a timely smile, might spark a beautiful new conversation.
We’ve compiled some links to organizations supporting your well-being as a caregiver, along with a few direct links to helpful articles and resources provided on each organization’s website.
We’re inviting others to get involved with us, encouraging people to care for caregivers. We are thinking bigger, planning to positively impact people across the country and around the world. With your help, we encourage and support families navigating the challenges of caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer’s. Together, we are facing the disease with songs, smiles, and joy.
Our workshops are designed to get practical information and resources directly to caregivers.
Check out our magazines … one for caregivers, and one to share with loved ones who have Alzheimer’s.
We create environments designed to connect families and friends, while also connecting to joy-filled memories.
We know what it’s like to love someone who has Alzheimer’s.