13/12/2024
Shopping without the stress after brain injury during the festive period 🎄🛒
With Christmas around the corner, we know shopping can become a challenging and stressful chore after brain injury. Here we look at shopping after brain injury, tackling some of the common issues reported by brain injury survivors when shopping, as well as what can be done to make this an easier task! (Part 3/3)
3. Memory problems
Short-term memory is commonly affected by brain injury, and this can interfere with the ability to remember what needs picking up from the shops. Brain injury survivors with memory problems may also forget what they have already bought after shopping.
⚪ Rely on shopping lists and introduce a system that you are likely to stick to. For example, keep a running shopping list at home and add items to it as soon as you realise that you need to buy them. Consider whether you are more likely to use a shopping list on your phone or written on paper
⚪ Cross items off a list as you shop, so that you can keep track of what you have already picked up
⚪ Request printed copies of receipts and store these properly, so that you have a written record of items you have already in case you forget
⚪ Keep a list of items you need to take with you when shopping (keys, wallet, shopping bags, Headway ID Card, coins for parking machines, trolley tokens), and stick it somewhere where you are likely to see it when you leave the house
⚪ If you are visiting a large car park, take a photo on your mobile phone before you leave your car with a notable landmark that will help you to remember where you have parked. Delete the picture from your phone when you have returned so that you do not get confused between previous visits
Source: headway.org.uk