By keeping their brains active, your older loved one can keep their memories and reasoning skills sharp for years to come.
Understanding how to retain the mind of an older person who will likely be receiving care at home rather than in a residential facility is crucial.
Having a caregiver for 24 hours a day at home allows for more opportunities to encourage activities stimulating the recipient’s cognitive capabilities. Completing activities not only helps your loved one maintain their mental health, but it also fosters a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, all of which have been shown to have positive effects on one’s physical health.
Providing in-home care for an older loved one enables you to spend more quality time with your loved one while also providing them with opportunities to engage in new activities.
Feeling good and connecting with others over interests and hobbies that don’t require intense physical exertion or strain on the body has the benefits of engaging in gentle physical or mental activities.
Gentle and carefully controlled activities that aid older adults with more difficult dementia care revive memories and give them much-needed reassurance are beneficial for all older adults.
When working with people who have dementia, it is essential to pay greater attention to the steps being taken rather than the outcomes. Participating in activities appropriate for their cognitive level reduces the agitation they are prone to, leading to more peaceful interactions.
I have compiled a list of eleven activities shown to increase cognitive function and provide additional health benefits. These include social interaction, a sense of accomplishment, and the chance to laugh with loved ones.
11 Confirmed Mind-Stimulating Tricks For Older
Even though aging is inevitable, it can be challenging for older adults to adjust to the physical and mental changes that go with it. Because aging creates anatomical alterations in the brain that may impair cognition and memory, maintaining mental activity is just as vital as maintaining physical health.
As one becomes older, maintaining cognitive function is crucial. Memory loss, inattention, and speech impairment are all symptoms of cognitive decline that can impede development and dampen happiness. Including any of these cognitively engaging pursuits into your older loved one’s weekly schedule can help them keep their abilities for longer.
1. Prioritize Your Health
You should give your physical well-being the priority it deserves to maintain a high standard of living. Whether it’s diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, or anything else, it’s important to get checked often and keep an eye on your health.
Remember to discuss the probable effects of your medications on your memory, sleep, and cognitive function with your doctor.
Limiting alcohol consumption and avoiding tobacco products are obvious ways to look after your health. Maintaining good sleeping patterns and getting enough quality sleep should also be top priorities.
Because of the negative effects of brain injuries on cognitive function, it is vital to eliminate the risk of any accidents that could cause a fall.
As a matter of fact, older adults need to engage in low-impact exercises. These could include stretching and strength training to maintain their health. Exercising also lowers their chance of fractures, joint discomfort, and other illnesses.
In addition to the obvious physical advantages, regular exercise can also aid seniors in dealing with emotional stress. This can have as much, if not more, an impact on their health than any specific illnesses or injuries. Moreover, a consistent exercise routine can help older adults maintain their positive mental health far into their old life.
2. Manage Hypertension
Even though controlling blood pressure is mostly associated with heart wellness, it also benefits the brain. Dementia risk factors, including moderate cognitive impairment, can be mitigated by lowering blood pressure, as revealed in several studies.
Having regular health checks with your doctor to keep an eye on your blood pressure is important. A checkup is vital as this condition does not usually manifest in normal life. However, if your doctor notices that your blood pressure is consistently high, they may prescribe medication or suggest you modify your diet and exercise routine.
Brain health and cognitive agility can be partially boosted by preventing and controlling excessive blood pressure.
3. Keep Your Mind Active
Keeping one’s mind active may be good for the brain. Those who devote time to causes they care about or pursue passionate interests report improved mental and physical health. In addition, acquiring new knowledge has been shown to boost cognitive function.
According to one study, for instance, older persons who took up new hobbies like knitting or photography saw greater gains in memory than those who engaged in only social activities or fewer mentally taxing pursuits.
Art, theater, dance, and writing have all been demonstrated in studies to affect older people’s health and happiness positively. It results in enhanced cognitive function, higher self-esteem, and more meaningful social connections.
The mind can be kept busy by participating in various pursuits. Take the time to peruse some books or periodicals. Have fun with some games. Educate yourself, either as a student or a teacher. Extend your horizons by acquiring new talent or interest. Do some paid or unpaid work, or volunteer.
Mentally challenging pursuits like these alone may not be enough to prevent dementia or Alzheimer’s, but they are entertaining. Furthermore, observational studies have shown that engaging in cognitively stimulating activities, like reading or playing games, may reduce the incidence of cognitive decline and dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease.
Researchers have suggested that these experiences can help build up a safety net in the brain called “cognitive reserve.” They have the potential to make the brain more flexible in certain mental processes, allowing it to make up for declines brought on by aging and certain diseases and injuries.
4. Eat Nutritious Diet
Let’s talk about how eating well affects your brain and your ability to think quickly and creatively. There is some evidence linking eating well to either protecting brain function or decreasing the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Those who follow a Mediterranean diet may reduce their probability of getting dementia. Although research in this area is still in its infancy, some believe that the diet’s ability to boost cardiovascular health could be the impetus for lowering the risk of dementia.
Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins like fish and chicken, and low- or non-fat dairy products are typical components of a diet that promotes good health. In addition, it restricts solid dietary fats, added sugars, and salt, controls one’s portion size, and encourages regular water intake.
There is also the MIND diet, which has been examined extensively and linked to a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and a reduced rate of cognitive decline when followed strictly.
5. Volunteering
Volunteering for a good cause is a rewarding experience for many retirees.
A plethora of causes and groups could use the help of seniors, so they may find a way to volunteer their time and energy.
Volunteering is rewarding at any age, but it can be particularly meaningful for older adults.
Volunteering is a great way to do so if you’re a retiree wishing to give back to your community. Furthermore, there is evidence that it has a beneficial effect on the physical, mental, and emotional health of older people.
Volunteering in retirement is a great way for retirees to keep busy, meet new people, and feel like they’re contributing to their community. It could be through reading to kids or sharing their knowledge with younger students, helping at a local food pantry or soup kitchen, or something else.
Volunteering can be beneficial in many ways, from meeting new people to increasing or maintaining physical activity.
6. Connect Through Social Activities
To avoid feeling lonely and disengaged from the world, it’s important to maintain mental and social health by participating in community events and programs. Health risks can be mitigated and quality of life enhanced via engagement in meaningful social activities.
Those who spend their time doing things that matter to them and that benefit others are more likely to have a long and healthy life, to be in a good frame of mind, and to have a clear understanding of what they want. In addition to preserving their health, these pursuits also promise to enhance their mental understanding, according to available research.
Staying in touch with loved ones, especially as we age, is crucial for several reasons – mainly to prevent the mental and physical degeneration resulting from loneliness and isolation.
It’s easy to keep in touch with friends and family when you know how to use social media, video calling apps like FaceTime and Zoom, and e-mail. In addition, the internet is rife with how-to guides and videos that may help those 65 and older learn to use any software programs.
Older adults might keep things simple by sending handwritten notes or establishing a regular phone call routine.
7. Learn A New Language
Researchers have found that expanding one’s linguistic horizons at any age improves cognitive ability.
The cognitive effort required to get and maintain bilingualism has been cited as a contributing factor. However, as an added bonus, expanding one’s linguistic horizons can lead to several career and travel opportunities, both of which can provide significant mental stimulation and challenge.
8. Eat With Chopsticks
Learning to eat with chopsticks takes practice and patience. It may seem daunting to sit still for 45 minutes while you eat your bowl of noodles. But most people find that it gets easier after the first time and come to enjoy the mental and physical advantages.
Using chopsticks can help you enhance your coordination over time by challenging your brain to learn a new ability. In addition to improving your digestion, eating more slowly and consciously allows you to enjoy the food’s aromas and flavors fully.
9. Learn An Instrument
Playing an instrument is a fantastic way to challenge your brain and broaden your horizons, but it can also enrich your life in many other ways.
Learning an instrument makes us more attuned to and interested in the music we hear everywhere, whether on the radio, in the car, or at the grocery store. Now, more than ever, songs carry deeper significance.
Whether your goal is to master the guitar or pen your own lyrics, many excellent resources are available to help you get started.
10. Stress Management
Long-term stress alters the brain, impairs memory, and increases the risk of developing dementia. So, developing strategies for dealing with stress and increasing resilience is critical.
There is a wide range of techniques for coping with stress, from engaging in regular physical activity and meditation to keeping a gratitude journal and practicing mindfulness. Stress management, in whichever form best suits you, can have a major influence on cognitive function.
11. Play Brain Games
Puzzles of all kinds (Sudoku, word games, crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, memory games, etc.) Everyone can find a satisfying mental challenge in a puzzle or game.
Puzzles can help you mentally, including improving your memory and intelligence and sharpening your ability to think visually and spatially.
The Lumosity app, which combines scientifically-validated activities into enjoyable games you can play for just a few minutes every day, is a great place to start if you’re interested in puzzling or brain gaming.
When you finish a game, you’ll get useful feedback and deep insights into your brainpower. Of course, if you want to play every game and track your progress, you’ll need to pay for a premium subscription. However, even with no subscription, you can play many games on Lumosity.
The Bottom Line
Since your mind is your most valuable possession, you should exercise it plenty.
This can be achieved through new mental challenges and experiences, which can also improve one’s sense of well-being and quality of life.
Taking care of one’s mental health as one age is crucial since it increases resilience against illness and makes one more resilient to the effects of aging physically. Therefore, older adults need to make an effort to engage in brain-healthy daily activities.
There are quick and easy things to do that will assist greatly in the long run, such as doing a crossword puzzle every day, going for a few walks every day, or keeping a notebook.
If you take care of your brain early on, you can avoid the cognitive decline that comes with old age.
One can use many strategies to maintain cognitive health and vigor, which will not only increase day-to-day happiness but also lessen the likelihood of developing memory problems and dementia. Never let your age be an indicator of who you are.
References
