Information about Alzheimer’s disease and Memory Care
July 15, 2010 at 2:21 am Leave a comment
Memory Care becomes crucial for people over sixty-five where Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease become more common. Old age brings many challenges related to their cognitive ability, physical and neurological stability among several other things. Herein, diverse mental, physical and social routines help seniors to maintain a sense of connection and involvement with the world around them, also helping them stay vital and passionate about life.
Recreational activities such as reasoning exercises, crosswords, music, socializing among other things can make significant qualitative changes in preserving and enhancing the cognitive abilities amongst the seniors.
Research Studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly Study), evidenced that cognitive abilities improved in elderly people when doing exercises where they looked for a pattern in words to find the next word in the series. Look for word games such as this in puzzle books or make them up yourself.
Crossword puzzles and trivia games help seniors to reach into their memory stores and come up with information they may have not accessed for a long time. Interestingly, crafts such as knitting and crocheting are helpful for memory care because they help them use old and new patterns with the mind and the hands. Volunteering and doing personal chores not only make a senior feel needed, her focus on helping will relax her mind to allow her memory to work more efficiently to get the job done. These mind and memory drills ensure a more alert and focused state of mind.
Low-impact physical exercises such as walking can be used for senior memory care. A University of California, Irvine, study published in 2005, proved with an animal model that mice, which had increased exercise, also decreased their beta-amyloid levels. Herein, it is important to note that Beta-amyloids are plaque-forming protein fragments that are markers of Alzheimer’s disease.
Moreover, social activities which involve meeting friends, family and others in a long-term care facility, maintain more of their attentive cognitive function and communicative skills. These elder care activities in the form of informal tea-parties, movie plans, reading clubs and so on makes them connect and contribute to each other’s lives updating them with local news and enriching their lives in several ways.
All in all, these activities contribute in keeping the spirit of life and zest for life alive. read more about Alzheimer’s care.
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