The Importance of Sensory Activities in Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care
Imagine walking into a familiar room, yet everything feels just a little out of place. That’s the reality that people with Alzheimer’s and dementia must face every single day. However, there is a solution.
Doing activities that work on all five senses is the most effective way to cognitive function, but also as bonuses, reduce anxiety, and improve mood for individuals with Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
This article will explain the significance of sensory activities, their impact on emotional well-being, and practical ways to implement them into dementia care.
Firstly, sensory activities are beneficial in memory care for a few reasons.
What Makes Sensory Activities Essential in Dementia Care
During their dementia journey, individuals find comfort through mild physical touch and familiar scents instead of spoken words. Sensory activities are, therefore, essential for creating happiness, reducing psychiatric issues, and deepening personal connections.
Brain functions remain preserved when people with dementia engage with touch, taste, and smell in combination with sight and hearing. According to a study published in The National Library of Medicine, sensory stimulation improves cognition and memory among those with dementia.
Agitation and restlessness will likely affect dementia care residents, but sensory activities can help alleviate these problems. Playing familiar music and smelling familiar scents from items brought in by family members are proven techniques for helping people relax emotionally and bringing back positive memories.
An individual with dementia needs multisensory activities to manage their disease better and boost their emotional health.
How Sensory Activities Improve Emotional Well-Being
Sensory interactions, such as musical sounds, different touch sensations, and familiar smells, substantially benefit people with dementia. Participatory meaningful activities develop positive moods by lowering stress levels and enhancing the connections between residents and caregivers.
Several powerful benefits result from implementing sensory activities when caring for residents.
Music Brings Back Forgotten Memories
Hearing songs they know helps people with dementia recover memories that seemed to vanish. The Mayo Clinic has demonstrated that music activates essential brain regions associated with emotional and memory responses. The memory of early songs remains active in people with dementia, even in their final phases, helping them become reminded of happy memories.
Touch Reduces Stress and Increases Comfort
Physical contact with soft materials, warm liquids, and textured objects, especially familiar ones, reduces stress while comforting residents. This decreases stress hormones while raising serotonin production for relaxation.
Familiar Scents Spark Positive Memories
Our sense of smell can retrieve memories that feel lifelike in the present moment. Many people find lavender produces peace-oriented feelings, which they match to delectable cookie scents from home cooking. These enjoyable mental states become accessible to us through just a single scent. We all have at least one smell that reminds us of memorable moments in the past. It may be the smell of freshly cut grass or the familiar smell of crayons from early childhood.
Engaging the Senses for Connection and Comfort
Sensory engagement helps build emotional bonds while comforting people with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Sensory activities stimulate the brain in people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. When multiple senses work together, they generate strong feelings while enhancing attention and awakening forgotten memories. The warmth of a caregiver’s hand, the sound of a cherished melody, and the smell of home-cooked meals brought in by family during a visit offer solace to those surrounded by confusion and overwhelming situations.
Proven by Research
Multisensory activities stimulate brain circuits, which stay functional even during advanced dementia stages. Daily routines that include sensory activities provide therapeutic advantages and foster feelings of purpose and community connection. Activities like receiving a hand massage, taking walks in a garden full of pleasant scents, or listening to beloved music can shift anxiety into joy within moments. Caregivers who focus on sensory engagement enable dementia residents to discover peaceful and joyful moments of connection.
Choose Heron Cove of Vero Beach for Memorable Care For Your Loved One
Memory loss diseases remove many things from a person’s life, but they don’t take away the ability to find pleasure through social bonding and feelings of contentment. Sensory activities improve the lives of people who experience memory decline because they lead to lower stress levels and better recall of memories.
Heron Cove Assisted Living & Memory Care of Vero Beach leads residents toward a nurturing and comforting environment.
Sensory activities should always be the priority in daily care to support those with Alzheimer’s and dementia to find meaningful joy throughout each day.
Memory loss does not compromise the ability of the senses to create emotional connections through which people can find comfort.
That’s why we place sensory activities as one of our most essential care components. Schedule a tour of Heron Cove Assisted Living & Memory Care of Vero Beach to see how we make the most of sensory activities to improve the lives of our residents.
