Life with a parent before the diagnosis will never be the same as after, but may be even better.  As you work through finding ways to spend enjoyable time together, you will learn more and more about that parent, discovering aspects of his or her personality that were previously buried in the parent/child relationship.

Because dementia is a progressive condition and the senior’s abilities will change, it is important to enjoy this time of friendship building and discovery with the senior.

Crossword Puzzles or Word Searches with assistance/cueing- Word finding, word recognition and similar functions may be areas of difficulty in persons with early dementia, so activities that involve words are not just helpful but offer the senior a sense of pride and accomplishment.  An example might be asking the person a 4 letter word for paid employment, then cueing by saying “When you left the house in the morning to go the store, you were going to ______” .  Provide similar clues till the individual “gets” the answer.

Exercise – depending upon the physical limitations and abilities of the senior, exercise can be a brisk walk, a seated exercise sequence such as those seen on television, or even some form of housework, with assistance or guidance.  Exercise will help elevate mood, as sadness often accompanies the diagnosis of dementia.  Walk and talk is one of my favorites, offering an opportunity to tune in to the surroundings, such as noticing the colours of the trees and bushes, the birds, while engaging in exercise.

Music- listening to appropriate music is important, as it helps with long term memory, word recognition and elicits emotional responses.  Music can elevate mood, and can also help with the grieving process (many seniors go through a kind of grieving at some point during early dementia, as this diagnosis most assuredly signifies a loss for the senior that he or she fully recognises).  Helping the senior reminisce about earlier times, feelings, and life experiences can be a wonderful shared experience.

Easy Card Games & Board Games- even seniors who were not game players in earlier years will often agree to engage in games such as Tile Rummy ( great for sequencing, number recognition and eye/hand coordination) Scrabble ( simplified and with verbal/ physical cueing) Whist, Uno, Sorry, Yahtzee, Dominoes, and similar activities.   Any of these games can still be played, with adaptations (remember the crossword puzzle clues?) to provide success and enjoyment for the senior.

Kitchen Activities- if the senior is no longer able to safely bake, the helper can bake a cake or cookies, and make an activity out of decorating.  An assessment by occupational therapist will determine which kitchen tasks the senior can safely engage in and which must be supervised.

The activities mentioned are just a minute sampling of activities suitable for those with early dementia and ways to adapt the activity to the senior.

Individuals with early dementia retain many of their previous abilities and interests and are able to enjoy success with some helpful cueing, direction and guidance.   Some people will respond better to demonstration, as opposed to verbal instruction.  Some will respond better to pictures than words.

The idea is to experiment with the activities the senior already knows and loves and find the best way for that activity to be enjoyed with success.  It is better to make it too simple at first and modify upwards than to make it too difficult.  Those with early dementia should be given failure proof activities. We, the caregivers, just need to help them find the way to success.

Hollywood’s message was clear. Young, silly kids were in fashion; most adults were just too boring to bother with. And the mature, over-50 crowd? Forget it.

Thankfully, Tinseltown has recently figured out what the rest of the world already knows – that those of us over 50 are alive and well and living life to the fullest. Movie audiences have come of age. These days we want to see real characters like ourselves who are complex and interesting. No more vapid girls who can do nothing but scream for help. No more boys who can’t face anything bigger than a mouse unless they are carrying weapons of mass destruction. We want to see characters who have guts and smarts and intuition. If those characters sometimes have grey hair, so much the better! That only makes them more believable.

What a treat it is to experience some of the truly vibrant characters who have been created for movies lately. These characters are exciting not despite their age, but because of it. We’ve seen some fabulous folks who prove that reaching 50 doesn’t mean the end of romance, fun, sex, friendship or adventure. Whatever the kids can do, we can do better!

These characters truly make their fifties – and beyond – look fantastic. You’ll remember each of them long after the credits have rolled. Here, in no particular order, are five irresistible over-50 characters from recent hit movies that I’d love to spend an afternoon with:

Professor Emily Appleton (Helen Mirrin) in National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (adventure, 2007). Emily is independent and smart as a whip. She doesn’t buckle under pressure. One day she’s busy translating ancient languages in her university office and the next she’s swept, kicking and screaming, into a deadly adventure by her son (Nicolas Cage). Along the way we find out that this perfectly poised lady is as human as the rest of us. Sure enough, when her hopeless but oddly adorable ex-husband (Jon Voight) stumbles back into her life unexpectedly, she gives him a verbal butt-whipping for causing the end of their marriage 30 years earlier. Well, wouldn’t we all, given the chance? This bundle of energy knows how to stand up for herself but doesn’t have anything to prove. Emily isn’t so hardened that she can’t let her tough edges rub off when she wants them to.

Chief (Alan Arkin) in Get Smart (action/comedy, 2008). He’s comfortable being in charge of an eclectic mob of prima donnas, wanna-bes and computer geeks. He’s resourceful, confident and loyal. And boy, can he stay calm in the face of a crisis! Except of course, when he gives a well-deserved attitude adjustment to an arrogant whippersnapper who calls him “old-timer”. The Chief is all about leadership and the all-around street smarts that come with life experience. He shows the world that sure, he knows how to use cutting-edge techno-toys to fight crime (wait till you see him fly that plane through downtown), but he relies most on good old-fashioned intuition. The Chief is definitely in his prime. Men just don’t get sexier than this.

Bernadette (Kathy Baker) in The Jane Austen Book Club (comedy/drama, 2007). Bernadette is a pied piper for people who even don’t know they need help. She isn’t a psychologist or therapist but could sure give those professionals a run for their money. Somehow she has figured out how to get people to help themselves and each other without them ever catching on that she had anything to do with it. Who would have thought that a club set up to talk about chick lit was really life coaching in disguise? Bernadette’s real magic is that she does all of this without being drained by it in any way. Let’s face it, being a cross between Santa Claus and Dr. Phil must be exhausting, but she continues to bang out those life lessons without so much as mussing her makeup. She’s so serene about everything that just watching her on the screen will lower your blood pressure. Nurturing as Bernadette is, she’s still one hot, passionate mama, and surprises everyone by finding true love – again.

Carter Chambers (Morgan Freeman) in The Bucket List (comedy/drama, 2007). Carter has the family we’d all like to have. His kids are healthy, successful in life and they love their mom and dad. He’s the true parent in all of us; he gave up his own dreams to make sure his kids had every chance in life. He doesn’t regret it one bit but he does sometimes wonder what might have been. Who doesn’t respect a guy who can do that and still be happy? When he finds out that his days are numbered due to cancer, he and his hospital roomie (Jack Nicholson) go on a last-ditch romp. And we’re not talking the kind of romp – beer, frat parties and strippers – that a teenager would go on. Carter and his buddy are no rookies; they’ve been there, done that, years ago and know partying ‘till the cows come home is not what life is all about. They hit the world’s true highlights, from drag racing to mountain climbing. You just might add a few things to your own bucket list once you see the world through Carter’s eyes. He is one dude who made the most of his time.

Janet Widdington (Dame Maggie Smith) in Ladies In Lavender (drama, 2004). Nobody knows how they’ll react to something new and startling until it drops into their lap. Sometimes nothing but maturity keeps us from making all-fired fools of ourselves. Of course, even maturity doesn’t help all the time. When a young cutie-pie of a man washes up on the beach of Janet’s home in Cornwall in 1936, she takes him in to nurse him back to health. Not surprisingly, the hunky amnesiac causes serious ripples in Janet’s previously happy, if somewhat dull, life. Though she and her sister (Judi Dench) are twice his age, they both try to win the cutie-pie’s affection and fend off a young, hot rival. Somebody has to keep her cool in the face of temptation, regret, rivalry, hope, loneliness and nostalgia and that’s our girl Janet.

If these mature characters are the future of cinema, we as movie-goers are in for a huge treat. So grab a friend and a bag of popcorn, and enjoy.