5 Gifts for Your Loved One With Dementia

By Nora Rosenau, MOT, OTR/L, CDP, LSVT-BIG
Occupational Therapist, Illinois

Over the past few years as a FOX Occupational Therapist, one of the questions I’m most often asked by family and friends has been: What would be a good gift for my loved one with dementia?

Oftentimes it can be tough trying to figure out a good gift for someone who has dementia. We want them to be able to appreciate and enjoy the gift, but we also don’t want that gift to confuse or agitate them more. With all that in mind, the following are some gift ideas that can help improve a loved one’s quality of life around the holiday season.

1. Weighted Blanket

Does your loved one have trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep, or do they seem frustrated when they should be trying to rest? With dementia, your loved one may have heightened senses to sounds and sights making it more difficult to calm down at night for sleep. 

The weighted blanket works well to calm down your loved one’s sensory system to decrease unusual behaviors, allow them to fall and stay asleep, and wake up with increased ease.

It should be noted that in order to ensure proper sensory regulation, it is recommended that the weighted blanket be approximately 10% of your loved one’s body weight. For example: If your loved one weighs 150 lbs, the best weighted blanket option would be 15 lbs.

Here is a link for a popular weighted blanket with various weight options.  Always consider your loved one’s safety and skin integrity when thinking about a weighted blanket.

2. Warm Clothes

Those heightened senses also come into play with body temperature. In many cases, if your loved one is cold, they may not be able to express it and instead become agitated and unable to focus on a task that wouldn’t typically be difficult. 

Try giving them a pullover sweater, button-up flannel, or zip-up fleece. This could allow them to then start off the day with minimal temperature fluctuations. This could also be an item offered to them throughout the day, especially in these cold months. With their temperature more controlled, your loved one’s mood and daily activity participation will be more consistent and improved.

Another added bonus of warm clothing is that it can improve your loved one’s posture by relaxing their shoulders and head instead of those shoulders being hiked and their head being tucked down for warmth.

Here are two links to good options for women or men. 

3. Sensory Fidget Blankets or Pillows

Have you ever noticed your loved one pacing, focusing too much on a problem in their environment, standing up although they safely no longer can, or picking at their skin or nails?

Try giving them a colorful blanket or pillow with snaps, zippers, buttons, and clips. This can be a great way for your loved one to relieve those fidgeting movements, but be more functional and safer. You can buy these at stores/online or you can DIY them.

Here is a link to a great option.

4. Picture Books

With dementia, it can be hard to comprehend words and pictures at the same time. With just pictures, these books can actually be a source of calming familiarity.

If you are tech-savvy, you could make a photo book online and use pictures of the family from now and back in the day to create a side-by-side comparison book. This will allow your loved one to make a connection since they may not recognize their family member now, but they may recognize them from 10 years ago.

Otherwise, find books with nature scenes, animals, cars, or other favorite things that they may like to browse through and provide that sense of “right at home” or calmness.

Here are a few good options to either Create Your Own Photo Book or for general Picture Books

5. Music

With dementia, music can be a huge help with focus, mood, and overall daily activity participation. Typically, your loved one will enjoy music that is from when they were 20-50 years of age, calming nature sounds, or smooth jazz or classical music to have playing in the background. A favorite of many of my patients is Frank Sinatra.

A few music ideas are:

• A CD Player. Tip: Give in conjunction with a CD filled with their favorite artists.
• An Amazon Alexa. Tip: Practice working it together and give them visual step-by-step instructions for how to tell Alexa what music they want to be played.
• A radio. Tip: Write down their three favorite stations so they can tune into their favorite music.

I hope these ideas inspire you and decrease your gift-giving stress this holiday season. It should be noted that these may not be the “perfect” gift for all loved ones with dementia. These are simply recommendations that have a history of being successful with FOX patients.