Holidays for dementia patient and their carer

We covered in another article whether a dementia patient can travel alone. In this article we look at taking a holiday with a dementia patient. As with travel, it all depends on the dementia patient, their diagnosis and the way in which their disease is affecting them as to whether you choose to go away on holiday together. For some people, they may have always enjoyed holidays together and it might be a way to make more memories together. 

One thing to remember with dementia is that the person is still there but the disease makes their brain have to work much harder to comprehend facts, situations and experiences. For this reason, one of the considerations when travelling with a dementia patient is how and where you travel to. Busy environments adds heavy background noise, which can make situations more stressful for the dementia patient and can give you more of a challenge to deal with. 

Do your research

There will be trips abroad that you can take where facilities are suitable for patients with dementia and if you don’t know where to start, you can talk to a holiday specialist that can arrange a holiday to the right destination. These holidays could also be geared to providing support to the dementia patient or at least have the facilities to support their needs, as well as an understanding of their condition. 

Respite holidays

It is also possible to organise a respite care holiday, which either involves the carer taking a break from their caring duties and going on a holiday. Alternatively, the dementia patient goes on holiday to a specialist facility where they can be cared for. The third option is for both patient and carer to go away to a holiday facilitate that provides car for patients and some break for the carer. 

Preparations for the airport

You can speak to the airport beforehand to request a hidden disability lanyard, to ensure that you have more assistance and understanding when in the airport. Consider the distance that you may have to walk between departure lounge and gates, so make sure you have some support if the dementia patient is unsteady on their feet, or won’t travel in a wheelchair. 

See if there are any quiet areas or lounges that you and the dementia patient can sit in before the flight is due to depart. If this is not possible, then consider preparing some of their favourite music and noise cancelling headphones, to try and reduce any impact of background noise. 

Preparations for the holiday

Encourage the dementia patient to wear an ID tag and a GPS locator, just in case. Ensure that you have enough medication for them whilst they are away and take important numbers, such as their GPs away with you. Ensure you are covered by adequate travel insurance also, particularly if you need to cancel.

Be prepared that you may need to cancel

You should keep an eye on signs that indicate travelling might not be a good idea. If the dementia patient is exhibiting signs that they wish to continually return to their home, even on short trips out. If they are starting to exhibit delusional behaviour, or start hallucinating. It may indicate an underlying level of anxiety, that could be exacerbated on holiday. Consider whether you can deal with this while you are away, or whether you will have the support while you are away to deal with this difficult behaviour. Similarly if the patient is starting to wander, or is having sundowning episodes, this may not be the time to go away on holiday with them. This may also be the case if the dementia patient has started to become incontinent. If you are not prepared or able to support this when travelling, you may need to reconsider your plans, or look at alternative holiday ideas.