LSU Research Insights: Making Holidays Calmer and More Meaningful for Families Living with Alzheimer’s
December 18, 2025
The holiday season can be a particularly difficult period for those living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD), with such challenges as changes in routine, sensory overload, and social gatherings.
Scott Wilks, director of LSU’s Healthy Aging Research Center, or HARC, said care partners and other caregivers face their own set of challenges. The holidays can bring extra demands and additional costs on top of existing responsibilities and financial strain related to caregiving.
Additionally, there can be grief.
“The holiday season is often a time of reflection, the wonderful memories of annual traditions and earlier family celebrations,” Wilks said. “For the care partner, the heightened awareness that their care recipient is struggling with an incurable disease can turn those positive reflections into a longing for what used to be. This longing can bring a deep sadness, or worse, feelings of despair and helplessness.”
It’s important to have realistic expectations, acknowledging that holidays may not be the same as they’ve always been.
“For family members, don’t run from it. Be gentle, kind, and patient with the person diagnosed with ADRD,” Wilks said. “Interact with that person as they are today, not as they used to be.
“Nostalgia is great, but try to celebrate the memories while appreciating what is realistically present today.”
“Interact with that person as they are today, not as they used to be. Nostalgia is great, but try to celebrate the memories while appreciating what is realistically present today.”
Scott Wilks, director of LSU’s Healthy Aging Research Center
Wilks, the W.H. “Bill” LeBlanc LSU Alumni Association professor for the College of Human Sciences & Education’s School of Social Work, offered some tips for families and friends who plan to celebrate the holidays with their loved ones living with ADRD:
- Prep the guests. Talk with uninformed guests ahead of time, letting them know about the diagnosis and what to expect. Encourage guests to introduce themselves; keep conversations slow and simple; and avoid correcting memory lapses. That said, do NOT infantilize the person with ADRD. That person is an adult and deserves interaction with dignity and respect.
- Turn it down. Simplify the environment a bit: Lower the noise level (especially background noises competing with conversations) and avoid bright and flashing lights.
- Connection > conversation. Focus a little less on what is spoken, and a little more on nonverbal cues and actions, such as smiles, eye contact, hugs, or a warm touch (if welcomed). Enjoy how you are together. Share simple activities while avoiding a lot of questions or deep conversations.
- Short & sweet. For care partners and care recipients visiting other places, scheduling priorities should be brief and flexible. If the person with ADRD shows signs of distress—such as agitation, fidgety behavior, or zoning out—politely leave and return home.
- Support the care partner. Family members and friends should contact the primary care partner ahead of a holiday event and simply say, “I’m here for you. What do you need?” Also, try to avoid offering advice unless the care partner solicits such.
Wilks offers encouragement to families navigating ADRD during the holidays, which can be made special and meaningful by keeping these things in mind:
“Celebrate what matters most: meaningful togetherness with loved ones. Let go of traditions that cause stress or overload the senses,” he said.
“Create new traditions with simpler activities that involve familiarity and emotional connection, such as looking at photos, listening to soft music, stirring batter, stringing popcorn, or sharing hot cocoa. For a healthier holiday season for everyone involved, enjoy calmer, kinder, more patient engagement with loved ones living with ADRD.
“Love and honor the person they are now, irrespective of their cognitive and physical limitations. The gift of life is precious. Celebrate that most important gift.”
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