Will the World Cup Interest Alzheimer’s Patients?

“Why bother letting Dad (or Mom) watch or read about World Cup events.  They don’t know what’s going on,” you might comment.

However, we don’t know just what they may assimilate or enjoy.  Their attention span may be fleeting or they may doze in front of the TV.  But watching activities they’ve always enjoyed, or even new ones they haven’t been interested in before, may catch their attention for awhile.

My mother wasn’t interested in TV when she was an active woman before AD. She considered herself too busy.  However, as she began entering the Alzheimer’s stage of her life, she became a TV fan and had specific programs she enjoyed.  Yes, eventually, she couldn’t concentrate on an entire program, but these bits of another world often held her interest.

Mother also liked to read the newspaper.  When she could no longer read very well, she would browse through newspapers and magazines.  In the nursing home, this could occupy her for an hour or more.  Also, she enjoyed having nurses or aides read to her.

My father-in-law, who didn’t have Alzheimer’s but suffered from dementia as his prostate cancer spread, never gave up his interest in sports until he went into a coma. 

So you never know what might spark your family member’s interest whenever the World Cup is mentioned or they see pictures and words in a publication.  Books like the one below may have pictures that that catch their attention and provide relief in their hazy world.