As a care partner for a loved one with Lewy Body Dementia, it’s important to have a daily routine. This helps each morning start with a smooth start, alleviating some of the burden from the caregiver’s shoulders. A daily care plan may change as the disease progresses, but incorporating these key aspects into one can foster a higher quality of life.

Plan A Short Exercise Routine

Including a daily exercise routine in your loved one’s care plan may help prevent physical injury and boost their mood. Lewy Body Dementia can significantly affect mobility and motor skills, but strength training, aerobic exercise, and increased flexibility may give some functionality back to a person with LBD. Even a simple 5-minute chair exercise or short walk around the neighborhood can increase blood-flow and circulation, benefitting both mind and body.

Encourage Self-Care

As Lewy Body Dementia progresses, the person afflicted with this disease may begin to lose autonomy over their own life. However, by encouraging your loved one to employ personal care skills where they are able, they will retain some of their independence. Self-care also has the added benefit of boosting self-esteem and pride. When LBD symptoms make it harder for the individual to accomplish personal grooming and hygiene tasks on their own, the routine may be adapted.

Plan Leisure Activities and Social Involvement

Those diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia will benefit tremendously from continued social involvement and participation in favorite past times. It’s important to encourage involvement in hobbies and face-to-face interactions to keep your loved one in high spirits. Adapt leisure activities to fit within the scope of their capabilities, and when they are no longer able to participate in the activity, consider finding ways in which they can read about or watch it. Provide resources to family and friends so that they will be better able to engage, interact, and empathize.

Build Rest Times into the Day

Caring for a person with LBD may be challenging, therefore rest breaks are crucial for both the care partner and the person with the disease. Leave enough free time in the daily care plan for rest and relaxation. Caring for a person with LBD rarely follows a perfect routine, and as the disease progresses, sleepless nights for both may occur more frequently. Both the care partner and the person with Lewy Body Dementia will benefit from quiet time throughout the day.

Be Flexible

The most important tip for crafting a daily care plan is to ensure its flexibility. Lewy Body Dementia doesn’t present the same from patient to patient, and care partners will want to craft a care plan according to their loved one’s specific symptoms, abilities, and needs. As this new way of life moves forward, the care partner should consider changing the routine to better suit new obstacles and challenges.

All of these practices encourage a better quality of life for the person with Lewy Body Dementia. Moreover, having a daily plan in place takes some of the burden off of the care partner. A predetermined care plan is especially helpful if a family member or friend steps in to offer temporary relief.  At Lewy Body Dementia Resource Center, our helpline (516-218-2026) is open seven days a week, twelve hours a day. We also offer a plethora of online resources to ease the caregiver burden and enrich the quality of life for those with Lewy Body Dementia. Contact us today for more info.

Dementia Care Plan Image by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash