Board games have been around for centuries. Everyone has played one at some point in their life. While they are mostly considered a recreational activity, board games can be useful learning tools for the elderly population of society and it is important for caregivers to know this, ours do.
Board games stimulate our minds by forcing us to use our thinking or cognitive skills. In the elderly, partaking in activities that do this helps to deter the onset of mental illnesses related to advanced age, such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Recent studies have shown that seniors who regularly participate in mentally demanding activities reduced their risk of developing these conditions by 75%.
Some board games are a better choice than others due to the level of cognitive skills they require. It’s also important for caregivers to know the likes and dislikes of the client so that they can try to find suitable games for them. Perhaps one client is a fan of word games and would enjoy Scrabble or another has a penchant for card games and Spades or Hearts would be more suitable for them. Finding what they like and what they are comfortable with doing is key when it comes to playing board games with seniors. Here’s a look at some of the available games and the benefits that each one provides.
Scrabble
Scrabble requires the use of both semantic and short-term memory skills. These kinds of games are referred to as left-brain games because they use the left side of the brain in dealing with small details and recalling information.
Chinese Checkers
Chinese Checkers is a simple game that introduces right brain activity in problem solving. The game also requires left brain activity in sequencing.
Card Games
Card games use both sides of the brain and do so on a number of levels. These types of games can be very challenging or very easy. Although the more challenging games would provide the most cognitive benefits, any level of difficulty based in the senior’s ability would suffice. An alternative to traditional card games, such as poker, is matching games. These games come in the form of a deck of cards with matching pairs of numbers, words, or pictures. The cards are put face down on a table and the senior turns them over two at a time, looking for a match. Although this kind of game might sound elementary, the benefits of this kind of mental exercise can be invaluable.
The above games can also be played by more people than just the caregivers and the seniors, family and friends can be involved turning it into a social event as well.
At Right Accord Health, our caregivers are caring, compasionate and fun. So whatever the game or challenge you would like to take part in, you just let us know. We cover Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice, Longboat Key and the surrounding areas.
Tags: bradenton, caregivers, games, longboat key, sarasota, seniors, venice
