Expert Offers Advice on How to Help People With Dementia Cope With Holiday Stress

Hackensack University Medical Center's Manisha Parulekar suggests ways to help people with dementia deal with stress during the holiday season, reports CBS New York . She recommends keeping family gatherings small so they are less overwhelming. Guests should be made aware that someone in the house has dementia. "Let others know about the cognitive impairment so the relatives or the other family members who are making the arrangements do count that in when they are making those plans," Parulekar advises. This is key when it comes to serving food and alcohol at parties. "It can interfere with medications," Parulekar cautions. Finally, some people with dementia tend to wander, and people can lose track of them at holiday parties — so it makes sense to set the alarm on the front door.