Halloween can be a magical time for many, especially if you have young children or grandchildren who are excited to dress up and go trick-or-treating. It marks the transition to autumn too – the time for comforting soups and stews, watching the leaves change colour, and wrapping up warm to enjoy crisp mornings.
However, some older people can find Halloween a difficult time. The darker evenings and unexpected visitors can be distressing for those living alone or with dementia. We’ve shared 20 essential safety tips for helping everyone experience this time of year in a way that’s comfortable and safe for them.
Why can Halloween be frightening for seniors?
There are many reasons why an older person may find Halloween uncomfortable or even frightening:
- Noise and stress: Shouting in the streets – happy or not – can put people on edge, or bring back bad memories or fears.
- Unexpected visitors: Constant knocking at the front door or the doorbell always going may be stressful, especially if it’s loud or unexpected.
- Physical risk: For older people with physical limitations, having to keep getting up to answer the door may increase their risk of falls or injury. Once they make it to the door, they may feel intimidated if they’re faced with a large group of older children.
- Dementia-related confusion: Disruptions to routine, strange costumes, and unfamiliar or scary decorations can cause confusion, misinterpretation, and trigger difficult or anxious behaviours.
How can I support my loved one this Halloween?
There are a number of things you can do both in the lead-up to Halloween and on the night itself to reduce safety risks and ensure peace of mind.
- Clear pathways and check mobility aids: Keep the floors and entryways clear of trip hazards. Check any mobility aids are in proper working order so your loved one can safely reach the door if they wish to.
- Invest in a personal alarm: A lot of these devices can be worn on a pendant around the neck or on a wrist bracelet, and allow the wearer to call for help or the emergency services with a touch of a button, should they feel in danger.
- Arrange companionship: Arrange for someone to come over and sit with a loved one for a few hours. Most trick-or-treating will likely happen between 6 pm and 9 pm – although this may differ in certain areas.
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- Signal absence: If you deem it safe to do so, you may wish to turn off outdoor lights and draw the curtains to suggest no one is home.
- Use door security features: Use a video doorbell, spy hole, or door chain to check who’s at the door before opening it properly. Ensure your loved one or their carer knows they only need to open the door if they feel comfortable doing so, and that they shouldn’t feel pressured.
- Deter door knocking with treats: If you expect a lot of children will be trick-or-treating in the area unaccompanied, it may help to put a bowl of sweets outside at the end of the driveway or garden path, to deter them from coming up to the door.
- Create distraction: Try distracting a loved one from the noise outside by engaging in conversation, putting on some favourite music, or enjoying a classic movie marathon.
- Secure home windows and outbuildings: Pranks can involve throwing things or accessing gardens. Advise checking that all ground-floor windows are securely locked and any garden sheds or outbuildings are secured to prevent anti-social behaviour.
- Use light timers: If the front porch light is off to deter visitors, using an automatic timer for interior lights can help maintain a safe, routine-based environment inside the home, especially if the resident is distracted by external noise.
- Secure pets indoors: Ensure all pets (cats, dogs, etc.) are securely contained in a quiet, interior room, away from the front door. Constant door-opening and strange costumes can cause them to bolt out, leading to stress, injury, or getting lost.
- Keep pet-toxic items out of reach: Halloween candy (especially chocolate and xylitol-sweetened items) is highly toxic to pets. Ensure all decorations that could be chewed, swallowed, or cause injury (wires, battery-operated items, or flickering lights) are safely secured or put away.
Tips for seniors living with dementia
Routine and predictability are vital for those with dementia. These four tips can help a loved one stay as comfortable as possible over Halloween:
- Limit confusing decorations: Limit decorations if they’re likely to cause confusion and agitation, or change how the house looks. Interactive decorations that make noises or have flashing lights can be particularly confusing to some people.
- Filter unsettling TV content: Consider what they may end up watching on television as many channels will be showing horror movies or unsettling shows. You may wish to block certain channels if it’s possible. Put on a favourite DVD, or keep them busy with quiet activities like reading, sewing, or reminiscing by looking at their favourite family pictures.
- Play calming music: Try playing calming music to help distract from any unusual noises outside.
- Focus on autumnal activities: Focus on it being autumn rather than Halloween and do some seasonal crafts or tactile games. Seasonal activities for dementia may include:
- Baking and decorating homemade treats together using seasonal ingredients such as apples or squash.
- Creating art with fallen leaves and twigs, or pressing the items collected from the garden or local park.
- Playing a sensory guessing game where your loved one can identify autumnal items like cinnamon sticks, different types of leaves, or pinecones.
- Baking and decorating homemade treats together using seasonal ingredients such as apples or squash.
How to support elderly people in your community on Halloween
We don’t just have a responsibility to our loved ones this Halloween. We can all do our part to help every elderly person in our community feel safe.
- Respect “no trick-or-treating” signals: If you’re going trick-or-treating, avoid houses that don’t look like they’re taking part. Houses without decorations or pumpkins outside, or with the porch light off, could indicate they wish to be left alone.
- Avoid frail residents: If you know an older or particularly frail person lives at a certain house, it’s best to avoid knocking on their door.
- Knock once, then move on: Only knock or ring a doorbell once. If there’s no answer, respect their decision not to come to the door and move on.
- Keep noise to a minimum: Be careful not to make too much noise after dark.
- Report anti-social behaviour: Unfortunately, some people use Halloween as an excuse to ‘prank’ people, such as throwing eggs or toilet paper at their homes or in their gardens. If you see anyone engaging in anti-social behaviour or doing something that could upset an older person, call the non-emergency police on 101 for advice.
