Here’s How I Kept My Mother Mentally Engaged While She Had Dementia
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Soon after Nikki Nurse’s mom was diagnosed with early onset dementia, Nikki became her full-time caregiver.
Nikki says that when caring for someone with dementia, it’s important to engage all five senses to stimulate the mind.
Nikki used sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch stimulation to keep her mom mentally active.
Keeping your loved one’s brain healthy while they are experiencing dementia can often feel like an impossible task. But it can be done with a bit of creativity.
By stimulating all five senses — sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch — I tried to help my mom experience meaningful moments in our day. She had dementia and Type 2 diabetes, and I was her full-time caregiver for more than a decade. Up until the ending stages of dementia before her death in February 2023, keeping her mind occupied was part of our routine.
We would start off our day looking for colorful flowers in our Brooklyn neighborhood and enjoying their sweet scents. Or we would play her favorite songs in her headphones or listen to birds singing in our neighbor’s garden. I also kept the kitchen stocked with healthy foods to snack on. For years, those were the things that made my mother’s eyes light up.
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If this routine helped us, I can only imagine how much it can help other families navigating dementia. Here are my tips for keeping a loved one’s brain engaged.
1. Sight stimulation
One method of sensory stimulation is to use visuals that evoke pleasant memories and reinforce happy experiences. Whether it's showing them photos of places they’ve visited or colorful images of natural scenes — like beaches and mountains — sight stimulation can bring back old memories as well as create new ones for them to remember later.
You can also use their favorite colors. For example, my mom’s favorite color was red. Even when she was in the final stages of dementia, I wore red nail polish on my hands to connect the color with specific activities, like grooming and feeding. By creating happy associations with the things they’re exposed to, we can enhance the quality of life for those facing memory loss.
2. Scent stimulation
Scent stimulation can involve aromatherapy products like scented candles, essential oils, or diffusers filled with calming aromas like lavender or chamomile. It can help create a feeling of peace, which in turn may help improve their overall well-being.
In my home, I used lavender-scented detergent and room spray. It seemed to give my mom some comfort and elevate her mood. With the right treatment and care at home, you can help make an impact on your loved one’s quality of life even if they’re in the final stages of dementia.
3. Sound stimulation
One way to do sound stimulation is through music.
We would play my mom’s favorite songs or even sing along together. Audiobooks are another great way to not only stimulate the ears but fill a loved one’s mind with stories and characters they know and love.
It's important to figure out what your loved one enjoys most and tailor your approach accordingly. Provide them with the right kind of hearing stimulation to help them feel loved and appreciated while promoting mental acuity.
4. Taste stimulation
Taste stimulation engages another sense and can encourage your loved one to get wholesome nutrition and maintain their health.
Why not make meals together? For us, that meant dishes with strong flavors that tantalized my mom’s sense of taste. Spicy dishes, sweet desserts, or even a bit of family nostalgia through tried-and-true recipes can bring back memories associated with the food.
5. Touch stimulation
Caring for someone with dementia can be incredibly difficult and emotionally draining. So, it’s important to provide comfort in other ways when verbal communication isn’t possible. Touch stimulation can be an effective strategy to show your loved one affection and provide much-needed support.
Simple gestures, such as holding hands or giving a gentle hug, can help put them at ease. Physical contact increases oxytocin production, which has calming and soothing effects on the person receiving the touch.
With touch stimulation, you can help reduce feelings of isolation and give your loved one assurance that you’re by their side through all the stages of their dementia journey.
Encouraging interaction
Keeping your loved one’s brain healthy through careful stimulation of all five senses can make life more enjoyable and dignified. You can tailor sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch stimulation for your loved one. For me, that meant talking in a gentle voice, making sure my mom was near a window with a view of nature or memory-stimulating objects, and playing soothing music.
Small things can make someone with dementia’s day more meaningful. It can also be an emotional boost for the caregiver.
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