It’s well-known that routines are important for people living with dementia. Having a consistent, set structure to their days helps them in a number of ways, and it’s especially important when dementia care is being given at home. Creating this routine, then is of the utmost importance and raises the question of how you should go about setting up a routine that works for a loved one with dementia.
While everyone’s routine will look slightly different, these routines are typically structured around daily rituals that provide anchor points and consistency, while allowing flexibility and breathing room, and that’s what we want to look at today.
Before we look at the daily rituals that people living with dementia typically need, it’s worth looking at some of the principles you should bear in mind when creating a routine for your loved one.
When a routine is set up properly, it can have remarkable benefits. This is especially true in home-based dementia care, where the benefits can be multiplied due to the inherent familiarity of your loved one being able to live in their own home and the increased autonomy and independence they can enjoy as opposed to receiving residential care.
Morning rituals are especially important because it allows your loved one to get off to a strong start and means that each subsequent ritual helps to stack up the wins and cause a positive day.
Morning rituals include:
While we haven’t included breakfast as a part of this, if your loved one has been eating breakfast before getting dressed for decades, it’s worth including that before the dressing and grooming ritual.
There are all sorts of elements that you can include in these rituals, and it doesn’t really matter what these elements are so long as they feature consistently. This helps your loved one feel comfortable at the start of the day and feel in control from the beginning.
The inclusion of music, checking the weather, opening the curtains in the same manner in the same place and the like are all things you can consider as part of these rituals that need to be applied consistently.
It’s also a good idea for the person with dementia to be given as much space for independence as possible while reducing friction. If choosing the outfit for the day causes too much stress for them, then putting out the clothes but allowing them to dress themselves is a reasonable compromise to make.
The important thing to remember is that this set of rituals must take place at a similar time every morning and must take place in the same way. The different rituals shouldn’t be muddled up each day. It needs to be a pillar of activity that your loved one can look to and depend on.
Mealtime rituals include:
Because of the importance of consistency in dementia care, these should happen in the same place, at a similar time each day. This is where the primary carer – whether you are the carer or you have a paid carer – has to take the stress off the person with dementia and the carer has to plan in advance to avoid disturbances to mealtimes. An example of this planning ahead to avoid appoints falling in times that mealtimes usually occupy.
A good principle to follow is that meals should be simple to prepare and eat and be nutritious. Simplicity in preparation and in eating helps both the carer and your loved one because it makes mealtimes low maintenance.
On the topic of mealtimes, it’s also a good idea to get your loved one involved in preparing the meal or helping set up before or clear up afterwards. While these are chores, it helps perpetuate a sense of normalcy and helps to maintain independence and cognitive function.
Making mealtimes relaxing, social occasions where opportunities for conversation between your loved one and the others in the vicinity is so important. People with dementia need social engagement, and getting to socialise with others over a meal is a low friction way for this to take place.
The mealtime routines are also not restricted to three meals a day. If smaller meals suit your loved one, having more daytime meals works perfectly well. Again, they just need to be structured in a way that allows them to happen at the same times, in the same places.
The evening rituals help your loved have a peaceful, organised conclusion to the day that promotes good sleep. Again, this is where home care for people with dementia is so good: you don’t have to worry about other residents and can tailor everything to fit your loved one’s needs, from playing music or having silence to watching TV or keeping it off.
In any case, the evening rituals include rituals like:
Again, these rituals need to take place at roughly the same time, in the same sequence, with the same elements every day. This helps to signal that the day is coming to an end, helps your loved one get into the right state for good rest and helps them to finish the day strong.
A person living with dementia needs both physical and cognitive activities woven into the daily routine. They don’t need to be onerous, but they help to slow the decline brought on by dementia and provide enjoyable activities that your loved one can look forward to on a daily basis.
Examples of physical activities include walks, light gardening and light household chores.
These physical activities can include a social component as well if it’s predictable and this can create incentive and make the activities more meaningful to your loved one. For example, your loved one could go on a daily walk with a friend, family member or pet.
Examples of cognitive activities include things like writing, doing puzzles, playing games and participating in cultural or artistic activities.
Again, apart from the value these activities bring, they can also become social activities and contribute to your loved one’s sense of wellbeing and value.
An important point is that the activities do not have to be the same every day. It’s more important that the same type of activity takes place at the same time every day.
Finally, it’s important for space to be made for rest and spiritual rituals in the routine. As with all the other rituals, the important thing is that they take place at predictable times and in predictable ways.
These rituals can include things like:
There are other types of rituals that can be included in this category, of course, but they are important to provide your loved one with opportunities to reset within the day and have some quiet time.
Spiritual rituals can be particularly meaningful for your loved one as well and help them remain plugged into a social network around a common purpose, something that is greatly beneficial for a person living with dementia.
While there are many significant advantages to home-based dementia care, we think that the freedom to shape your loved one’s routine and care in their own home with the predictability, comfort and independence that this fosters is just so important. It really gives your loved one the space to get exactly what they need. And, in large part, this is because of our wonderful carers, who can go for a walk with your loved one, help get them to a weekly religious service, or take them to a weekly activity where they get to live their life to the fullest.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter so much what specific rituals your loved one with dementia has as part of their daily routine. The important thing is that they are there, and that they take place at the same time every day, so your loved one has the structure they need.
This can be overwhelming and difficult to implement, but help is available, and we would love to help you set up and implement a predictable daily routine or provide you with the extra help you need to look after your loved one. It’s really tough doing it alone, and there are options to lighten the load.
If you need help, all you need to do is fill out our contact form and we’ll contact you.
Residential care is provided in a care home. If you were to use residential care for your loved one, they would need to go to a care home and leave their home behind.
Live-in care, like the care we offer, is care provided in the home of your loved one. They do not have to leave their homes and memories and care comes to them.
Yes! You don’t have to have a full-time live-in carer for dementia care, but we do offer it, and we also offer respite care so you can take a break from the demands of caring for a loved one with dementia.
Our care is always flexible and person-centred. It’s designed to change as your loved one’s needs change. In fact, our carers will look for signs that suggest that we need to sit down with you and your loved one to adjust the care plan to better serve your loved one.
We provide dementia care in Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and surrounding areas.
It varies. This depends completely on how much care you require and depends on the care plan we put together with you and your loved one with dementia.
