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In order to make living easier for both of you, it is important to keep things simple. A person with Alzheimer’s disease has increasing difficulty when she is faced with too much at one time.

Even our most routine tasks are made up of many steps. For example, dressing includes choosing the right clothes, deciding the correct order and putting them on.

It may be necessary for you to break down these tasks into manageable steps. This will allow her to do what she can for herself, leaving you to help with the rest. For example, choose the clothes for her, lay them out in the order she should put them on and guide her to start with the underwear and continue through the pile of clothing.

Although it is necessary to simplify tasks, it is also important to allow the person to have as much control as possible of her life. Give her the chance to make choices. As her ability decreases, there will be some areas where you will have to make the decisions for her.

Some ways of keeping day-to-day living simple are to:

• buy clothes that are easy to put on
• keep only a few clothes in the closet, making decisions easier
• choose a simple hairstyle
• use an electric razor for men
• simplify the table setting by removing unnecessary cutlery and dishes from the table when eating
• provide finger foods when forks and knives become difficult to manage

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