Reading to Ruth › Advice for families

Gifts for someone living with dementia

The best presents for someone living with dementia don't need to be learned, remembered or looked after. They are enjoyed in the moment: a song they know, a hand to hold, a voice they love. You know them best, so take these as places to start.

By Tara Button, Ruth's granddaughter and the founder of Reading to Ruth · Updated 11 October 2026

Before you choose

• Think about today, not last year. What do they enjoy now? A present that suited them two years ago may frustrate them today.
• Nothing to learn. If it needs instructions, it needs you there each time.
• Familiar beats new. The music, food, scents and stories they have always loved are the safest choices.
• Ask the people who see them every day. A carer or the care home will know what is being used and what is needed.

Things to hear

1. Stories and your voices, on one button. I am biased about this one, because I make it. Reading to Ruth is an audiobook player with one big button, on a tablet they already have. The family add books and record voice messages from their own phones. There is nothing to remember except the button, and it keeps the place in every book. How to give it as a present.
2. The music of their life. The songs from their teens and twenties, their wedding, their church or their dance hall, gathered into one playlist or onto a simple music player. The charity Playlist for Life has advice on making one.
3. A recording of you. Read a poem they know, sing with the grandchildren, or simply say good morning. It costs nothing.
4. A simple radio, with large buttons and their station already set.

Things to hold, see and taste

5. A photograph album with names. A small one, with a few clear pictures and the names written large underneath. Good for visitors and carers to talk through with them.
6. Something soft. A blanket or shawl in a colour they love, for the chair.
7. Something for busy hands. A lap blanket or muff with ribbons, buttons and textures sewn on, sometimes called a twiddle muff. Dementia charities and craft groups make and sell them.
8. A jigsaw with large pieces, made for adults, with a picture that means something to them.
9. A clock that shows the day as well as the time, in large, plain letters.
10. Scent. The soap, hand cream or flowers they have always had.
11. Their favourite treat, in small amounts and often, once you have checked with whoever looks after their meals.

And the one that matters most

12. Your time. Half an hour looking at photographs, listening to a record or sitting in the garden. If you can't be there, anything that carries your voice into the room is the next best thing.

About the first one on this list

I built Reading to Ruth for my grandmother Ruth, who is 101, almost completely blind and hard of hearing. Now our family give her books to listen to, and send voice notes, poems and articles.

I can't promise it will suit someone living with dementia. It is different for everyone, and Reading to Ruth is new. We suggest starting with one book and one button. If they can't get on with it, tell us within 60 days of the day they first use it and we refund it in full.

More about audiobooks and dementia