Celebrating Traditions Differently with Dementia

Dementia Support Corner

The holidays are a busy (and sometimes stressful) time of year, especially for families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias. People living with dementia and caregivers to people living with dementia often find themselves trying to stay true to old holiday traditions and balance their own needs and abilities. This blog will share some tips on how you can modify your holiday traditions to be dementia-friendly.

Tips to Celebrate Traditions Differently with People Affected by Dementia

According to Alzheimer’s San Diego’s Dementia Care Coach Crystal Viloria, it is a normal part of the journey to change traditions to accommodate a person living with dementia. Depending on the needs and abilities of the person, this can be as simple as a small modification to your existing tradition. For example, if you want to host but can no longer cook elaborate meals, Crystal suggests ordering takeout instead. If your homemade food is important to your holiday traditions, delegate dishes to different family members. Celebrating traditions differently can also mean celebrating in a completely new way by creating a new tradition altogether. For example, if you have always celebrated at home but this year you or your loved one living with dementia lives in a memory care facility, you could go to the facility and join their festivities instead. The possibilities to accommodate and include the person living with dementia are endless.

No matter how much you need to celebrate traditions differently this year, Crystal has a few tips on how to help you set yourself and your loved ones up for success:

  1. Communicate your needs: If your family isn’t aware of what is going on, they won’t be able to understand your need to celebrate traditions differently. Be transparent about your abilities and situation by sending a group text or a group email to your family before the holiday festivities. For example, let your family know that you or your loved one living with dementia may exhibit certain behaviors and to please be patient and understanding. As Crystal explains, “you don’t want to catch anyone off guard so communicating ahead of time about new behaviors can help set everyone up for success! The more transparent you are in your communication, the more support your loved ones can provide.”
  2. Delegate to your family: You don’t have to do it all yourself or all at once. You can break up traditions in many ways. For example, if you usually host, have a conversation with your family about hosting the celebrations at their house instead this year. If you want to host, ask your family to bring food and drinks to make it easier. Crystal says you can even delegate different days throughout the week to celebrate if you or your person living with dementia don’t do well with large crowds. Maybe instead of a 4 hour commitment cutting it down to 2 hours. Simple adjustments like this can make all the difference to still enjoy the holidays.
  3. Establish boundaries: Family members can make comments or suggestions that are not helpful and can make you feel guilty. For example, family members often don’t understand why the caregiver doesn’t want to bring their loved one living with dementia home from the memory care facility for holiday celebrations. As a result of these comments, you may feel the need to correct or over explain yourself. Crystal says to honor how you feel.
  4. Join in on the fun: Sometimes people living with dementia or caregivers isolate themselves when they would instead really benefit from connection with others. For caregivers, it is important to take time off from the caregiver role, conversations, and responsibilities. Don’t deny yourself time to connect with others because of guilt or fear.
  5. Create new traditions: Humans are creatures of habit, and we enjoy repeating activities that we are familiar with. But for people living with dementia and their caregivers, some traditions might not be possible anymore, that is absolutely ok. Creating new traditions or modifying old traditions provides opportunities for unexpected fun with our loved ones. Celebrating traditions is beautiful, but so is creating new ones.

Crystal also encourages readers to check out these other blogs:

Personalized Help During the Holidays at Alzheimer’s San Diego

Because these tips for celebrating traditions differently are so dependent on your unique needs, Crystal recommends calling Alzheimer’s San Diego and speaking with a Dementia Care Coach. “Everyones situation looks different, so I encourage you to call us,” says Crystal. Alzheimer’s San Diego is available to answer your dementia-related questions and provide personalized guidance. If you or your loved ones are struggling with how to modify holiday traditions, give us a call at 858.492.4400. This service is 100% free and available to all San Diegans or people with a loved one living in San Diego County. Also check out our free education classes, social activities, caregiver support groups, & more. Services are also available in Spanish.

Our “Dementia Support Corner” series is an opportunity for our Supportive Services to provide insight that can help people impacted by dementia.

By Heidi Emmenegger

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Posted on December 15th, 2025