Visions of Sugarplums: Holiday Gifts for Alzheimer's Patients

There's always someone in the family for whom it's harder to choose gifts. For me it's always been the men, wheras I can come up with lots of ideas for the women and children. But whether male or female, for the person with Alzheimer's, gift choosing becomes difficult and we question "Will she be able to use this? Will he be aware of this and enjoy it?"

Stephanie Zeman, RN MSN, has written widely on the subject of choosing holiday gifts for Alzheimer's and related dementia patients. Her article "Enhancing Life For the Older Adult with Alzheimer's Disease or Other Dementias: Some Gift Ideas" suggest some types of gifts that can be chosen for three stages: early, moderately impaired, and severely impaired. Additional ideas can be found at the South Central Wisconsin Alzheimer's Association's Web site in an article adapted from Ms. Zeman's The Giftgiver's Guide: Holiday gift ideas for all stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Suggested gifts for the early stage of Alzheimer's or related dementia include: simple games; tickets to a concert, musical, circus, or ball game; window shopping at a mall; taxi charge account for visits to friends; frozen, homemade meals; photo album or collage highlighting major events of the persons life; fruit basket or flowers.

For the moderately impaired stage, the following gift ideas are suggested: simple to manage clothing; materials to sort; box of costume jewelry; basket of yarn or fabric; music, such as old songs and religious music; taped religious service; and short car trips to see Christmas lights.

Suggestions for the severely impaired stage include: recordings of old music; stuffed animals or lifelike baby doll; video tapes of soothing sights and sounds; hand/body lotions and massages; pet visits; memory books, and knee warmers.

As you can see, it need not cost a lot to give an Alzheimer's patient a delightful gift that they will enjoy. Stephanie Zeman has given us a lot of wonderful ideas.

May you enjoy giving to your Alzheimer's patient loved one this year, and may he or she find delight in simple gifts filled with love. I wish you all a the best holiday season ever!

Oh, I almost forgot that new animated Christmas tree I promised you: Merry Christmas from A Year to Remember!

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