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title: "A daily routine for dementia: a simple, workable structure"
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1.  [Home](/)
2.  [Dementia care at home](/dementia-care-at-home)
3.  Daily routine 

Routine

# Building a daily routine that holds

Routine does the remembering so the person does not have to. This is a plain structure you can adapt, plus the two or three points in the day worth protecting hardest.

[Begin caring today for free](/signup)[How it works](/features)

## Anchor the day at three points, not twelve

A schedule with a dozen entries is a schedule nobody keeps. Pick three fixed anchors — a start, a middle and a wind-down — and let everything else float around them.

Once the anchors are genuinely reliable you can add a fourth. Not before.

## A workable shape for the day

-   Around 8am: curtains, radio on, breakfast and the first drink of the day. 
-   Around midday: a proper meal, even a small one, and a second drink. 
-   Around 3pm: something to look forward to — a walk, a call, the garden. 
-   Around 5pm: lights on before dusk, television down, evening meal started. 
-   Around 9pm: the same closing sequence every night, in the same order. 

## Prompts that support the routine instead of interrupting it

The wording matters more than the technology. 'It's Tuesday afternoon — Sarah rings at four' works. 'Reminder: task due' does not.

You Care Reminders lets you set the exact times and phrasing once, then it repeats without you having to remember. You can see when a message was confirmed, which is often enough to stop you ringing at ten at night.

## When the routine slips

Expect drift after any disruption: a hospital stay, a holiday, a bereavement, even the clocks changing. Rebuild from the anchors rather than trying to restore the whole day at once.

## The wider picture

roughly 6 in 10

people with dementia in the UK live in their own home, not in care.

Source: [Alzheimer's Society](https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-us/news-and-media/facts-media)

## Being straight with you

You Care Reminders is a non-medical wellness tool, not a monitoring service and not an alarm. Delivery is best effort rather than guaranteed, and it must not be used for medication reminders. If you are worried about someone's health, speak to their GP; in an emergency, call 999.

## Questions carers ask

### How rigid should the routine be?

### What if they resist the routine?

### Should reminders be calls or texts?

### Does the same routine work in later stages?

## Read next

-   [Dementia care at home](/dementia-care-at-home)
-   [Activities at home](/dementia-activities-at-home)
-   [Sundowning](/sundowning-late-afternoon)
-   [Memory aids for dementia](/memory-aids-for-dementia)
-   [How reminders work](/features)

## Set the first reminder tonight

It takes about five minutes, costs nothing to start, and the person you care for has nothing to install.

[Begin caring today for free](/signup)[See plans](/pricing)

You Care Reminders 

Thoughtful reminders that help families stay quietly connected to the people they love.

Wellness support, not medical advice.

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Care scenarios

-   [Dementia check-ins](/dementia-check-in-service)
-   [Daily prompts for MCI](/mild-cognitive-impairment-daily-prompts)
-   [Drink & meal reminders](/dehydration-reminders-elderly)
-   [Compared to dementia clocks](/vs-dementia-clocks)
-   [Why smart alarms fail](/why-smart-alarms-fail-older-adults)

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-   [Loneliness call reminders](/loneliness-call-reminders)
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-   [Caring for elderly parents](/caring-for-elderly-parents)
-   [Dementia care at home](/dementia-care-at-home)
-   [Mild cognitive impairment](/mild-cognitive-impairment)
-   [Dementia clocks](/dementia-clocks)
-   [Signs of dehydration](/signs-of-dehydration-in-older-adults)
-   [Carer burnout](/carer-burnout-early-signs)
-   [Respite care](/respite-care-uk)

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