Key Takeaways
- Tailored therapy: Occupational therapy is personalised to support daily living skills and promote independence and confidence.
- Decreased support partner stress: Occupational therapy brings structured routines and support that reduce anxiety.
- A calming effect: Occupational therapy’s ability to perform simple, familiar tasks reduces agitation, supporting people with dementia to feel more at ease.
- Safer: Occupational therapy supports safer ways to do tasks, reducing risk.
- Saving time: Occupational therapy makes daily tasks more efficient, freeing time to spend quality time with your loved one.
- Being part of the community: Occupational therapy can support people living with dementia to feel more connected to their community by improving communication and relationship skills.
- How does occupational therapy work? Occupational therapy uses customised care plans and supports to reduce unmet needs.
- What can occupational therapy help with? Occupational therapy promotes independence, helps with daily living, and ensures safety at home and work.
Occupational therapy is essential for everyone to do the things they love safely and competently. However, not everyone needs occupational treatment per se. This form of therapy is most beneficial to individuals who require alternative approaches or need to adapt to new tools. Anyone who needs help with activities they want or need to do can benefit from occupational therapy.
Tailored therapy
Good occupational therapy helps any individual improve their daily living skills. This is especially important for people with dementia. Tailored occupational therapy can help with independent cleaning, cooking, and grooming. Good occupational therapy will build a person’s confidence, which is vital for maintaining dignity when memory loss increases.
Decreased caregiver stress
Furthermore, structured routines have been shown to decrease stress in support partners. To feel less anxiety and stress, caregivers and loved ones with dementia can benefit from the right tools to complete tasks through supports such as occupational therapy.
Finding purpose through meaningful engagement
Engaging in familiar tasks that provide a sense of purpose, such as folding towels, chopping vegetables, or pursuing hobbies from a past career, helps individuals living with dementia feel valuable and reduces unmet needs.
Find out more about what permanent stay is like at our homes.
Reducing risks
Another key aspect of occupational therapy is how it supports people with dementia to do things safely. Whether it’s through using new tools and assistive devices, occupational therapy can support people with dementia to continue doing the things they enjoy doing safely.
Saving time
Have you ever tried a new hobby, like knitting, that you initially struggled with, only to gain significant speed after watching a simple video and learning the correct way to hold a tool? This is what occupational therapy is all about. When a person living with dementia knows how to do tasks in the way that is right for them, they can not only complete tasks in a safer way, but also much more quickly. This frees up time to enjoy more enjoyable things with your loved one!
Being part of the community
The memory loss that occurs with dementia can make it difficult to engage with people, tasks and activities in the same ways. Interacting with other people is another thing that occupational therapy can help with for people with dementia. Many occupational therapists see improved communication and better relationships when they teach social participation strategies to people with dementia.
How does occupational therapy work?
In people living with dementia, occupational therapy primarily addresses symptoms like unmet needs, rather than building cognitive ability like with other conditions. Therapists create customised support plans using a patient-centred approach.
What can occupational therapy help with?
Activities for daily living
One of the primary purposes of occupational therapy is helping individuals with dementia perform their daily tasks independently. Routines for cooking, cleaning, and even managing money are all possible goals to work towards, even as the condition progresses. You may need a cooker that automatically turns off, for example. Or, in the case of personal hygiene, a simple trick like placing the shampoo bottle outside the shower could be all a person with dementia needs to prevent accidentally applying shampoo again.
Even managing finances, perhaps by noting down more transactions, can be straightforward again. Simple tips from an occupational therapist can go a long way in helping a person with dementia feel more in control and like themselves again.
Home and work adjustments
Occupational therapy aims to help people live more independently, which is why occupational therapists also work to make homes and workplaces safe. This could include colour-coding items needed for work, installing grab bars beside steps or in bathrooms, and removing anything that could prevent falls.
Is it time to think about flexible respite?
Contact us to find out more about the care we offer and how we can help.
