With Halloween just around the corner, I want to share some last-minute safety tips to ensure a spook-tacular and dementia-friendly celebration for your loved one. Halloween is an exciting time for kids & families, but it can be challenging for seniors with dementia. As a caregiver who has been through the ups and downs of making holidays special for someone with dementia, I understand the importance of planning carefully. This article provides a downloadable checklist & tips to help you focus on what to do and what to avoid to have a safe enjoyable Halloween for your loved one.
Halloween Dementia Safety Checklist
Here’s the checklist, just click on it to download, save and print, why not PIN it and share with your friends!
How to Ensure a Safe and Spooky Celebration for Your Loved One
Halloween can be a deeply unsettling and bewildering experience for seniors living with dementia. The combination of objects, costumes, noise, lights, and fireworks can trigger a range of complex emotions and perceptions. As their brains process these stimuli, the signals may become distorted, leading to fear, confusion, and anxiety. We approach this by creating a supportive and calming environment, where we can help our loved ones have a great Halloween experience.
Doing What Your Loved One Wants
Respect individual choices
Everyone with dementia is different. Some loved ones may enjoy a little spooky fun, while others may not. Let them guide you. You can read more on how Halloween can affect someone with dementia here.
Avoid leaving them alone or pressuring them into something that they don’t really want to do.
Decorations
Use familiar or DIY comforting decorations
Choose friendly themes like smiling pumpkins, balloons, happy Halloween bunting or DIY Halloween Decorations like homemade banners, pumpkin pompoms & stuffed shapes.
Avoid ghoulish ghosts, gory monsters, scary witches, fake skeletons, cobwebs, or other frightening images.
Environment
Set the Mood
Keep the lights soft and warm, and use safe battery-operated candles to create a cosy and comforting atmosphere. Ensuring no trip hazards and deciding if you want constant disturbances or hanging a no trick-or-treat poster.
Also, have a calm & quiet room available where a loved one can retreat if needed
Avoid bright, flashing, strobing lights.
Engage The Senses
Use soft materials and soothing colours for decorations, tactile materials and soft gentle music. Use aromatherapy scents to engage the senses.
Avoid loud noises and startling, eerie sounds. Things that jump out. Music with strong beats or high tempos.
Costumes/Masks
If your loved one wants to wear a costume, pick costumes that are easy to put on and take off. Dress up existing clothing with badges, funky socks, Halloween stick-on motifs, and things that bring about happy, comforting memories.
Choose a theme, dress up like iconic movie characters from a familiar era.
Avoid scary costumes or masks
Food & Treats
Sweet Treats
Have easy to eat sweets, fruit, bakes, cookies & and cakes decorated with non-scary Halloween motifs.
Avoid carving pumpkin incidents, Sweets that can be swallowed and cause choking and watch out for over consumption of sweetened goods.
Halloween Activities
Simple, engaging activities
Include seniors in simple Halloween activities, such as baking, decorating, playing games or watching friendly Halloween movies. You can find 10 Fun Halloween Activities for Dementia in this article
Avoid having complex long-winded activities.
Remember that everyone’s experience with dementia is unique. Always consider your loved one’s individual needs and preferences, and be ready to cut Halloween activities short if your loved one seems tired or distressed. You can read more on the different types of dementia here.
Conclusion
Just taking the time to plan will hopefully help you have a safe, dementia-friendly, and enjoyable Halloween. These last-minute tips for Halloween for seniors with dementia will help you to consider your environment, the mood, activities, engaging the senses etc and the individual preferences of your loved one with dementia!
For more Halloween tips, check out this article Tips for a Safe Halloween for Dementia Caregivers.
Happy Halloween!
