Preoccupying a PWD with YouTube and other ideas

dancsfo

I found that preoccupying a PWD with some nostalgic shows from YouTube is a good way to keep a PWD calm or out of trouble.

Some things I've discovered:

• Walking tours videos - may show places they lived in, or reminisce about. They can run quite long - like an hour or so.
• Compendium of news and events from past years.

I was surprised that it interested a PWD a lot more than regular TV.

Why do I do this? A PWD may come try to "help" me while I am cleaning up a spill (that a PWD created) or doing some other task, and won't go away or in the process of "helping", may cause more problems. So sometimes, I'd rather be alone to do them.

To avoid ads, which can be bothersome, you can pay for YouTube Premium. If you set it to autoplay, it does a reasonable job finding other similar videos. You can always set up your own queue. Repeats don't seem to bother a PWD, since they forgot they saw it earlier.

There are of course, TV channels with nostalgic shows, or even retro shows on streaming services like Hulu, but one has to select and queue up shows.

If you have other good ideas on what to keep one preoccupied, please feel free to share.

I've tried things like puzzles, books and other regular things, but a PWD may eventually get bored, and will start walking around, but nostalgic videos seem to capture one's attention. Of course, it's not great to be glued to a TV for too long, and it's nice to add variety once in a while.

Jeanne C.

I've had a lot of luck with photography/coffee table books. My husband can easily spend an hour or more looking at a book about dogs or horses (a great one is The Dogist - it has enough text for him to be engaged but not too much so it's difficult for him). And music! I have Amazon Echoes in every room and find that the Beatles station and a few others grab his attention.

dancsfo

@Jeanne C. Thanks. Photography/coffee table books are a great idea and not too demanding for a PWD. You can enjoy them together too, which is hard to do with books with just words, and can help as a joint activity.

I need to try music (I tried in the past). I'll try to find stations (or streaming channels) that will work.

MNPS

We recently discovered this thanks to my mom's caregivers. They play old TV shows like I love Lucy for her and they go through her high school and college yearbooks daily - she even picks them up on her own now and will be looking through them when we show up. I'm glad we finally have something that can keep her occupied for at least a short amount of time. I think familiarity is important to mom - she can remember people from 40 years ago, but she can't remember if she had breakfast this morning.

Iris L.

How much does YT Premium cost?

Iris

dancsfo

It depends on the plan https://www.youtube.com/premium

If you choose to get a family plan, you'd want your LO to have their own account (profile) so they get their own subscriptions and recommendations, and don't get viewing recommendations based on the primary family member's preferences.

dancsfo

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/188374#Comment_188374

I agree that what's familiar, even from childhood, seems to bring joy to many. It was quite surprising to me that memories from long ago persist so well. Apparently, favorite scents from long ago brings back memories too, and those capabilities last a while.

Iris L.

Thanks, dancsfo.

Iris