Celebrating the Holidays with a Loved One Living in Assisted Living

Assisted living facilities typically hold holiday celebrations for their residents. They do this so their residents do not feel left out and to foster a sense of community. These celebrations can be fun and meaningful for your loved one as they create new traditions at the facility. But what happens if you want to celebrate the holidays with them? We have put this article together to help you find new ways of celebrating the holidays with a loved one in assisted living.

Bringing Them Home

For loved ones who do not have dementia or Alzheimer's and in cases where you can arrange their transportation and they can handle it, bringing them home is a great way of celebrating together. Before making the arrangements, talk with your loved one to find out if this is something they would like. They may have concerns like receiving the care they need while they are away from the facility or getting too tired during the celebrations. They may also be concerned that they would be a bother. It is important to talk to them to reassure them so that they get to spend time with their family.

Visiting Them

Assisted living facilities allow family members to visit their loved ones to keep their bonds alive. They also have special days for family visits and allow them to visit during the holidays. Talk to the assisted living facility to see if they have anything planned for the holidays. To see which assisted living allows visits during the holiday, you can search for assisted living near me and look through the activities different assisted living facilities provide.

For Loved Ones with Dementia

It is a lot more challenging to celebrate the holidays with a loved one who has dementia. A common concern is that they might not be engaged with the family and not remember the celebrations in a few months or years.

These are valid concerns, but the most pressing one is if they are comfortable leaving the assisted or memory care facility to celebrate with the family. If they enjoy trips, this might be a great idea. If they are spooked easily and do not like a lot of people or loud noises, it might not be such a good idea to bring them home.

Also, do not be concerned about whether they will remember the celebrations in a few months or years. The most important thing is that they will enjoy the time they spend with the family, and you will also create new memories for yourself and the family.

Activities

If your loved one is coming home, there are lots of activities you can do to spend quality time together. You can decorate the home together, help them shop for gifts, arrange family visits, open presents, arrange a virtual meetup if the family lives far away, sing together, or complete a puzzle together. There is no shortage of things to do — you will only be limited by your imagination.

Celebrating the holidays with a loved one who lives in assisted living might be challenging, but it is doable. There is so much to do with them and doing so is a great opportunity for you to create new memories together.