The risk of people with dementia wandering off increases during the Lunar New Year (LNY) holiday, the Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association said yesterday.
The association issued the warning after the body of entertainer Judy Lin’s (林葉亭) father was found yesterday.
Lin’s 85-year-old father, who had dementia, left home and lost contact with his family on Jan. 16 while they were cleaning their family house. He was found dead in a private pool in Taipei yesterday.
Photo courtesy of New Taipei City Department of Health
The association said that caring for people with dementia can be more challenging during the Lunar New Year holiday, as unfamiliar friends or relatives and changes in habits or environments can agitate them.
Simple, interesting activities such as strolling, playing mahjong, creating spring couplets or giving red envelopes can be used to substitute for their regular community activities, it said.
Children or grandchildren can ask elderly people with dementia to teach them how to make sticky rice cakes, or to do simple exercises following instructions from workout tutorial videos, the association said.
That would not only help family members understand the needs of people with dementia, but also bolster family bonding and make the family reunion more meaningful, it added.
Friends and relatives visiting people with dementia should take the initiative to make self-introductions and avoid asking them to guess who the guest is, it said, adding that visitors should also meet people with dementia separately to prevent them from being overstimulated or exhausted.
If people with dementia seem unable to cope with the hustle and bustle and the crowd, overstimulation such as visiting busy streets should be avoided.
They can be moved to a quiet place and pacified by familiar caregivers, or guided to do activities or eat food they enjoy to stabilize their emotions and create a more comfortable environment, it said.
To prevent people with dementia from feeling ill, healthy food such as fruits should be eaten, while food items like sticky rice cakes and jellies that can easily cause choking should be avoided, the association said.
To ensure safety, areas where people with dementia spend most of their time should be kept clean and tidy, it said.
The cold weather during the holiday increases the risk of incidents for people with dementia wandering and getting lost, so family members must pay special attention to whether they are keeping warm, it said.
Their jackets can be placed at the house’s entryway so they can be easily put on when they go out, the association said.
Their backpack or outfit can be equipped with assistant devices such as emergency cards, the “heart badge” or global positioning systems to prevent them from getting lost, it said.
While support from friends and family is important, people are advised to use services under the Taiwan Long-term Care 2.0 program if they are eligible, including people with conditions or disabilities, people aged 50 or older with dementia, indigenous people aged 55 or older with physical disabilities, and people aged 65 or older with disabilities, it said.
Appointments must be made in advance to use such services during the holiday, the association said, adding that one people call 1966 for detailed information from regional long-term care centers.
Preparations should also be made for people with dementia to have follow-up appointments and enough medicine, it said.
Refillable prescriptions for people with chronic illnesses can be used to get medicine 10 days earlier in accordance with the National Health Insurance Administration’s rules, it said.
Family members should monitor the medicine use of people with dementia and assist them in organizing and recording their medication, it said.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
TRUMP ERA: The change has sparked speculation on whether it was related to the new US president’s plan to dismiss more than 1,000 Joe Biden-era appointees The US government has declined to comment on a post that indicated the departure of Laura Rosenberger as chair of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). Neither the US Department of State nor the AIT has responded to the Central News Agency’s questions on the matter, after Rosenberger was listed as a former chair on the AIT’s official Web site, with her tenure marked as 2023 to this year. US officials have said previously that they usually do not comment on personnel changes within the government. Rosenberger was appointed head of the AIT in 2023, during the administration of former US president Joe
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry