Aging In Place Directory

Creating a Magical and Inclusive Halloween Experience for Seniors

• Esther C Kane CAPS, C.D.S.

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Imagine transforming Halloween into a magical experience for older adults without the stress of sensory overload or mobility challenges. In our latest episode, Esther Kane takes you on a journey through tips and creative ideas designed to make the holiday season joyous and inclusive for seniors. Discover how maintaining familiar environments and simple routines can be the key to a peaceful celebration, and explore innovative costume ideas that creatively incorporate mobility devices, turning wheelchairs into regal thrones or playful train engines. Whether you're a caregiver or a family member, these practical strategies promise to enhance the holiday experience while keeping your loved ones comfortable and safe.

But it's not just about costumes and decorations; we also tackle the heartfelt topic of coping with grief during the holidays. Esther shares personal anecdotes to emphasize the importance of listening to seniors' experiences and emotions as they navigate this challenging time. Uncover ways to gently shift focus to the present and create new memories that honor the past while embracing the future. Your thoughts and experiences are invaluable to us, and we invite you to contribute to this ongoing dialogue aimed at enriching the holiday experiences for older adults within our community.

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Speaker 1:

Hey everyone, welcome back to another podcast, the Aging in Place Directory. Today. I know it's the day after Halloween that this podcast is coming out, but I wanted to talk about some tips of Halloween so hopefully you can use it for next year. But also I'm going to be talking about just the holidays in general, because the time of the holidays can be difficult for older adults for a plethora of reasons. Actually, it can be difficult for a lot of people for a plethora of reasons. So we're going to talk about some ideas on how to make well, specifically Halloween, how to make that more fun for older adults, and also and hopefully you can use these for next year and then also just how to incorporate some of these concepts and ideas for the upcoming holidays, because Halloween traditionally is, you know, the beginning of the all the crazy holidays that come along after that. Why they're not spread out throughout the year, I don't know. But welcome to today's episode.

Speaker 1:

I'm Esther Kane and we're going to be getting into this topic. You know we often think of Halloween, as you know, all about costumed kids, you know, ringing doorbells, handing out candy, halloween parties, all of that sugar rush, everything. But we rarely stop to consider how older adults experience the holiday, especially ones that may have a chronic illness such as dementia or a stroke, or have mobility issues or anything like that. Today we're going to explore how to make that holiday just a little bit more fun. So one thing that I do want you to consider if you do have a senior loved one, if you're caring for a senior loved one who has dementia or some other form of cognitive illness is that they are going to experience all of this hoopla much different than you and I would, and it's actually going to come to them as basically just sensory overload. You know we often talk about seniors with dementia needing a routine, needing a calm environment. Well, halloween is pretty much anything but that, unless, of course, you just don't get kids to your door. So lots of kids with costumes you know that can be disorienting Maybe some flashing lights you know a lot of them wear those collars or have flashing wands. And then you know some of the neighbors may be putting out sound machines with spooky sounds and maybe smoke and all kinds of things, and all of that can be really disorienting for someone with dementia or Alzheimer's or any form of cognitive decline, really. So here are 10 tips on how family members can help someone with dementia navigate these events.

Speaker 1:

You want to limit sensory overload. As I said, you wanna avoid environments that have excessive noise, flashing lights and all of that. You want to keep things as familiar as possible. So when you decorate, make it minimal. Maybe just a pumpkin outside the front door, anything like that, nothing threatening Nothing, no spooky ghosts or skeletons or anything like that that can spook them. You want to plan quiet activities. If you can choose, calming activities you know, like watching a movie or baking. You know cookies, you know pumpkin cookies or anything like that.

Speaker 1:

Use simple costumes. If you are going to dress up, make it it simple. Make it something that doesn't involve a lot of belts and buckles and wigs and all kinds of things, just something very easy. And if it's familiar, even better. You know you can use their clothes. Dress them up as a you know well, I don't know what clothes they have, maybe a plaid shirt and jeans. You know they could be a lumberjack kind of thing.

Speaker 1:

You want to prepare for visitors. If you do have a lot of trick-or-treaters coming to your home, I would recommend that you be outside. Just stay outside and hand out the candy there. In fact, you can even invite several neighbors over and all of you could be as a group. That's what I used to do in my old neighborhood. We would all go to one person's home Luckily she was just next door and we would just be in the driveway and we would be handing out candy from there. It was easy, it was fun and it's not as you. You know the constant doorbell ringing, knocking, trick-or-treat all of that so that your loved one could be inside. If they, of course, they can come outside, but if it becomes too overwhelming for them, then you know you can bring them back inside. You know, involve them in preparations, let them help with some of the simple tasks of decorating, arranging treats, all of that, you know. Let them know.

Speaker 1:

From a week before you know, say Halloween is coming, we're going to do this, halloween is coming, we're going to do this and hopefully they will be able to participate. But don't be upset or disappointed if they cannot just have a plan b of what to do. If you know they become angry or agitated or they just simply can't handle all of this hoopla, that's happening. Have a plan b as to what to do if that does occur. Um, you want to try as hard as possible to stick to a routine. I talk often about with dementia patients, with anyone that has dementia, is to stick to a routine. It's one of the easiest ways to keep someone calm and you know, as they move through this really, really terrible disease, and it makes life easier for the caregiver as well. Now, what if dementia isn't the issue? What if cognitive decline is not the issue? But what if mobility is the problem? Alright, so here are some ideas on how to make the holidays Halloween, any holiday easier if your loved one, senior loved one, has mobility issues.

Speaker 1:

One, you always want to make sure you have clear walkways. You know you don't, I mean it's. I know it's a lot of fun to put up all kinds of decorations and I know some people still do the brown paper bags with the candle inside. I would avoid that. I would avoid that entirely, because all you need is to bump into one of those things and you set off a fire. It doesn't make sense. Use LED lights if you want to do the paper bag thing. Just make it as safe and any pathways clear as possible. Make sure that there's enough lighting so that everyone can see where they're going and what's in front of them if they're using a wheelchair or a walker or a cane. And if possible, of course, you want to try to avoid steps. I have a front porch that has three steps that go into it to get up there. So if I were to go out there for Halloween with somebody with mobility issues, I would put a seat either I mean, I would put a seat at the top in on the porch itself so that when the kids come they can come up the steps to get the candy or it's a great way you can greet people whatever.

Speaker 1:

And another tip is that if you want to keep the senior person away from the kids, you know a certain distance. Maybe they just recovered from a cold or pneumonia or something like that. You don't want them exposed to the kids and you don't want the kids exposed to them. One idea of handing out candy is to have a long chute, a PVC pipe that will go from them. They can, you know, while your senior loved one is sitting, they can pick up the candy and put it into the PVC pipe and it goes chutes down to the kid's basket. I love that idea. Some of my neighbors do that. They put it on the railing of the steps, which I is hilarious anyway.

Speaker 1:

Um, you always want to make sure that you have the right footwear to wear outdoors, non-slip footwears. You don't want anything that doesn't have a back, of course, unless they're in a wheelchair, then it certainly may not, may not matter in that case. And then maybe it's too cold outside, maybe it's raining, maybe the weather isn't, you know, amenable for somebody to be out there who may have recovered or has a frail immunity system. Then you want to consider Halloween activities that are indoors, maybe a spooky movie, if they can tolerate that, or maybe have a Halloween party of some kind, and you know, or thanks, obviously Thanksgiving party, christmas party, any holiday party, and if you're going to do both, you can certainly do both. You can certainly, you know, do all the the kids in the front and then have the indoor plan b party inside.

Speaker 1:

You always want to make sure that anything that you hand out of course these days you can't hand out homemade things anymore you want to make sure that everything is wrapped and safe and that someone isn't, you know, opening up the candy and then handing that out. I remember an elderly woman that I was helping to take care of when I was an occupational therapist and she just got it in her head that she had to unwrap the candy and then hand the children the chocolate bar, and we had to stop that and get her something else to just hand out the candy bar. I don't know why she did that, but who knows why? We don't understand why. Anyway, so those are some ideas. Basically, the concept is to make it safe, to include them in the activities as much as possible and to alter the activities so that they can accommodate them and to have a plan B in case they are unable to participate. You know, it doesn't matter if they were able to do it last year, this year can be very, very different. As we age, especially after 70, you really start changing. You don't realize how much you change or you know everything physically your gait changes, your vision changes, your cognitive reasoning changes. It's really fascinating sometimes to see someone at 68, 69, 70, and then 71, 72, 73, and so on, and the changes that occur does sometimes happen, happen quite rapidly.

Speaker 1:

If you're wanting to get into some costume designs and if I do, got somebody that is using a mobility device so here's some ideas that you can maybe use. You can. If the person is in a wheelchair, you can turn that into a throne and make the person king or queen on their throne. If you the person is using a walker, you can decorate that Walker like a pirate ship, you know, adding a pirate hat on the person and accessories. But you can make the Walker a pirate ship, just make sure that it's not something that they can trip over and that they can still see the ground as they're using the walker.

Speaker 1:

Maybe even with a walker, a relating walker, or even a cane. You can dress it up as like a garden fairy kind of thing and then the person itself could wear, you know, an old prom dress which are fun to get at thrift stores, and you can then have the costume that way, not that the cane is a wand, but that it's part of the costume. You can also decorate a wheelchair to look like a train engine. Superhero cape is wonderful for wheelchairs or anyone that's walking with a walker or cane, as long as it's not so long that they can trip over and easy enough to you know, handle when they're sitting. You can wrap a walker in brown paper fabric or brown paper to make it look like a tree trunk, add some fake leaves, hang some plastic bats off of it. You can use a large picture frame. I'm reading some of these. You can use a large picture frame in front of the walker or the wheelchair in front of the walker or the wheelchair, making it look like the person is getting a selfie or is in a portrait or maybe inside a television set. I mean, those are all some wonderful ideas and I think if you go on Pinterest you could probably see even more wonderful ideas on how to decorate wheelchairs, canes and walkers for any type of holiday.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't necessarily have to be Halloween. You know, it would be fun to do pilgrim kind of things for Thanksgiving Santa Claus, elf things you know for Christmas, that kind of thing. I don't know if you can do a dreidel for Hanukkah, but it would be kind of fun. So traditionally, as I said, halloween is the start of the crazy holiday season. Thanksgiving is going to be less than a month away, then Christmas, hanukkah sometimes Hanukkah then Christmas, new Year, right after that, and then all these big gatherings and all these disruptions in your regular schedule can be very difficult for some older adults. So make sure to make the time and the space to decompress, not only for yourself but for them, and to incorporate as much of the regular routine as possible, because that is so very, very important.

Speaker 1:

You don't even have to have dementia or Alzheimer's. You know, my mom-in-law lived to 102, and she was very good about sticking to her schedule. You know, 8 o'clock every morning she had breakfast. At 12 noon every day she had lunch and at 6 pm she had dinner. You know, at 3 pm she took a nap. You know, at 11 pm she had dinner. You know, at 3 pm she took a nap. You know, at 11 am she watched some news or, you know, read something. I mean, she was very good about sticking to her schedule and, hey, she lived to 102. So I think there's something to that. So we also want to.

Speaker 1:

I also want you to be aware of the emotional factors that holidays can bring up, you know, especially if you've lost someone. Recently I remember my first set of holidays after my husband passed away. You know he died at the beginning of February. So Valentine's Day was awful. To this day it's still a difficult holiday for me.

Speaker 1:

Any of the holidays after that are always so very difficult, because how can you not think of that person that you lost. How can you not think back on all the things that you used to do? You know, major dinners, having all the family members all those memories are constantly coming up during the holidays. So acknowledge that, don't ignore it. Acknowledge it, talk about it. You know, spend some time with your senior person, your senior loved one, reaching out, listening to them and acknowledging their feelings of sadness, but at the same time also redirecting to what's happening today, enjoying the moment of today. So I hope that these tips help you through the holidays. I hope that it will bring, give you some ideas on how you can incorporate older adults into your holiday plans and, of course, I look forward to seeing you next time. Don't forget to subscribe, you know. Give us your comments, let us know what you think of the podcast, the information. Give us your ideas. I'm always so very happy to get more and more ideas from our listeners and I will see you next time. Take care.

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Esther C. Kane, CAPS, C.D.S.

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