‘Peace, Love and Joy in the Holiday Season’ Topic of UW’s Wyoming Dementia Together Program

The challenges of caring for someone living with dementia can be magnified during the holidays. The next Wyoming Dementia Together (WDT) program will discuss ways caregivers can celebrate the holidays with those living with dementia Wednesday, Dec. 13.

WDT is a statewide, nonprofit caregiver network operating through the University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Center on Aging (WyCOA). WDT meets by Zoom call every other Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Programs feature guest speakers and allow time for interaction from those who attend online.

Carol Taylor, a licensed clinical social worker in Jackson, will present “Peace, Love and Joy in the Holiday Season.” This will be the second of a two-part series.

“The holidays are a time for celebrating with friends and family, and we all look forward to making new memories and enjoying our customs and traditions,” Taylor says. “While celebrating holidays with a loved one living with dementia can present challenges, that certainly doesn’t mean our celebrations must be avoided. We will explore ways to make this year’s holidays meaningful and special, even if they may not look exactly as they have in the past.”

In part one of the series -- presented Nov. 15 -- Theresa Robinett, an occupational therapist in Casper, offered suggestions for holiday mealtimes with a person living with dementia. These included using adaptive eating equipment, offering more finger foods and rethinking traditional holiday meals.

WDT includes dementia care professionals, licensed clinical social workers, occupational therapists and caregivers themselves. WDT began meeting in fall 2020 and since has been offering online programming help.

For information about registering for Zoom calls and the other free services offered by WDT, call WyCOA at (307) 766-2829 or email wycoa@uwyo.edu.

For more information, go to the WDT Caregiver Network website.