Meaningful Activities

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Getting out of the house, socialising and taking part in activities that you enjoy is important for anyone, however it can be especially important for individuals with dementia. Likewise, there are many activities that we can do in our own home which are equally important to keep us active and engaged. 

The benefits of meaningful activities for someone with dementia include:

• Giving individuals a sense of purpose, belonging and routine.
• Keeps a person occupied – “passes the time”.
• Gives a person a feeling of purpose and value.  
• Increases sense of happiness and well-being.
• Can reduce the feeling of isolation/loneliness.
• It helps build friendships and allows individuals to meet new people.
• It can help acknowledge life experiences and skills that may not have been used for a while.
• People can learn new skills or share their skills with others.
• Helps reduce stress.
• Helps sharpen memory and cognitive skills.
• It can create emotionally nurturing experiences which increase self-esteem.
• Maintain skills and independence plus in some instances they can improve the person’s ability to perform certain daily activities.
• It gives individuals the opportunity to make decisions and have choices.
• It’s even been shown to help someone to live longer.

Meaningful activities don’t just have a significant effect on individuals' mental well-being but they can have a huge effect on their physical state too. If someone doesn’t take part in meaningful activities then it can…

• Cause low self-esteem and self-worth.
• Lead to feelings of boredom.
• Reduce social skills and resilience.
• Increase mortality.

Loneliness can increase the risk of stress, anxiety and depression. These conditions, in turn, can cause inflammation in the body, weakening your immune system and can cause you to experience digestive problems, bloating, infections and other health issues. Sadly, it is very common for lots of people with dementia to experience depression.

It is important to (get to) know the person living with dementia as meaningful activities are often individual.  What is meaningful to one person may not be to someone else.  Meaningful activities may be exciting, creative, interactive tasks or they can also be the daily things that we do to structure our time (such as daily chores or leisure activities). 

Keeping people living with dementia occupied is really important.  Here are some examples of meaningful activities, but really the list is endless:

Taking part in meaningful activities not only keeps a persons your brain active but also their body too. By doing so, you are helping your body retain its level of mobility and cognition. Both of which reduce the chance of a person having a fall.