Exercise is very important, not only for a person with dementia but also for yourself. If you are the main carer for a person with dementia you may very well have to take exercise together. Not only does this help with physical well-being, but it also has a beneficial effect on the mind, relieving tension and promoting psychological health.
Without doubt the easiest form of exercise for older people, particularly older people with dementia, is walking. This needn’t necessarily be a gentle amble, pleasant though this can be, but a brisk stroll. If physical disabilities allow, walking briskly for about half an hour, sufficient to raise the pulse rate a little and to feel a little hot, will be of constitutional benefit.
Even if it is possible for you to manage it, it is probably best to avoid exercise that leaves you short of breath and perspiring heavily. If you have any doubts about the exercise tolerance either of yourself or of the person you are looking after, it is very important to consult your doctor. Exercise needn’t be taken every day; two or three times a week is probably enough.
There are many different games that involve exercise, but the physical content of these is less important than the personal interaction that they usually generate with other people. Although they tend to be played in a day centre or a day hospital there is no reason why they can’t be practised at home if there are enough people. They can be simple games such as passing a ball around by gently throwing or rolling, or more demanding ones, such as skittles, depending on the severity of the dementia. It is usually not difficult to devise simple activities of this kind which not only involve a certain amount of physical exercise, a feeling of enjoyment, and social interaction with others, but also result in the participants practising coordination.
Some people advocate the sort of physical exercises that young people used to do in gymnastics classes — stretching, bending, jumping, and so on. In my experience these don’t very often appeal to people with dementia and it is also important to stop them falling off-balance. Nevertheless they may be appropriate for some dementia sufferers.
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