When visiting my sister in the nursing home I showed her my iPad. I found a simple tile matching game and she reacted very positively to it. I wondered if there is a tablet available that could be loaded with simples games, no ads, no complicated computer skills needed. I've seen tablets available for children and wondered if these would work. Any experiences or suggestions would be welcome. She has advanced dementia and is on hospice.
While your question is a good one (perhaps in some situations of early onset, if that), the more you understand how the brain is affected / changing, the better equpped you'll be on how to socialize / keep your sister as calm and 'happy' as possible. I'd start / try picture books
... wildlife (if they won't scare her)
... a bird book?
... flowres/gardening books?
You might be able to show her DVDs of these things although someone will need to be there to set up the machine for her. (I did this for my friend, giving the facility my DVDs/left in his room). I recall they likely didn't have the time (if inclination) to set up for him to view. They are overworked as it is and on a schedule.
It is very nice of you to try to figure out how and what to do for your sister. It is a learning process and often a challenge to figure these things out. God knows, I might be in your shoes helping my sister down the road. It is such a cruel condition (I think dementia is not a disease... I forget) although I know it isn't a given that everyone will acquire it.
Gena / Touch Matters
That way, your sister wouldn't need to worry about having to re-charge a device, figuring out how to turn it on and use it, or if it becomes lost it's wasn't that expensive to begin with.
My 95-yr old Mom has my old iPad with no internet. I downloaded a game app on it for her (no adds) and she enjoys playing it, but she's been using it for several years now. At first she couldn't get used to how to handle it so that she wouldn't mess up the screen and go somewhere else and get lost in it. Then there's the charging issue. This is not something for someone with advanced dementia or memory impairment. They cannot learn new things, no matter how simple or easy.
Matching games, suduko, word search, they always come with adds. They are free games, if you want to get rid of the ads , there is usually a pop up that says pay this amount and you can play add free. I've actually never paid for it, so I'm not sure if it really gets rid of the ads, but if sister finds a game she really enjoys, it's probably worth a few bucks to try it.
Look for some pads for children with games already downloaded. The pad maybe easier to use.