Finding activities that can both excite the brain while maintaining a dementia sufferer engaged might be challenging if you are a caregiver or have a loved one who has the disease. However, studies have proven that engaging in memory games and other enjoyable activities is a novel type of therapy that can support current dementia therapies.
Best Games to Play for Dementia Patients
Memory Games
Memory games for dementia provide a greater emphasis on mental exercise, memory recall, honing one’s analytical abilities, and training the brain through simply playing games and cognitively stimulating activities.
Crossword Puzzles
Puzzles are an excellent technique to keep the mind active at any stage of dementia. Crossword and jigsaw puzzles offer mental stimulation in a more reflective approach than increasingly competitive and serious games. Most puzzles don’t have time limits, so senior people can go through the task at their leisure. To improve cognitive functioning as seniors play games, it is important to take into account each senior’s skills and if they are experiencing any physical or cognitive challenges while selecting a puzzle.
Dominoes
Dominoes is yet another game that may be played while stimulating the mind. Elderly patients may easily comprehend and utilize the guidelines because of their simplicity and the tiles’ distinctive black-and-white pattern. Additionally, the tile sizes make it simple to handle and move the tiles about the table. Although it may seem simple or that it is simply just a game to some, the difficulty of using colours and numbers forces seniors to use their critical thinking and reasoning abilities.
Sudoku
Sudoku is a game that engages portions of the brain that aren’t typically used in regular tasks, making it a favourite pastime among seniors combined with other puzzle games. Seniors who play these matching games are actively developing their capacity for abstract thought as well as their capacity for pattern detection. Sudoku offers a wealth of cognitive advantages as well as a sense of success in the individual, which is particularly important for dementia patients.
Chess
Although the complexity of a chess game may overwhelm some people, it is essentially a powerful brain-builder that anybody can play, even the elderly. Chess develops one’s cognitive abilities and pushes one to think creatively because it is centred around strategy and planning, just like playing board games. It also offers additional cognitive advantages that help seniors who struggle with attention by improving focus.
Trivia Games
Trivia games are great since they can be enjoyed with a small group or a much bigger one, and there are many different categories to select from. The trivia questions cover a variety of subjects, including literature, music, movies, sports, history, and geography. While playing trivia games, people who have dementia may be able to recall significant events from the past, as well as the many cognitive benefits that they might get.
Social Games
Generally, social games place a greater emphasis on the socialization component of the activity and do not demand as much attention or concentration as cognitive games. Also, with these activity ideas and games, dementia patients in Singapore will increase their mental vitality, all while having a great time during their days.
Bingo
Among the most popular and welcoming activities for seniors that offer chances for interaction with other elders is bingo. Participating in social activities including bingo might benefit senior citizens who are lonely and depressed. In addition to its social advantages, bingo also improves one’s attentiveness and awareness because it calls for a certain amount of hand-eye coordination.
Card Games
With so many varieties available, card games are incredibly adaptable, and all you must take on one is a deck of cards. People with dementia can take pleasure in playing a variety of card games together. It is important to take into account any difficulties a person with dementia could experience when selecting a card game. Avoid card games that need a complex set of rules or that entail deceiving or misleading a rival to keep things simple.
Board Games
Board games come in a broad range of styles, from classics like Monopoly to greater dementia-friendly games such as Call to Mind. A study that examined the relationship between cognitive decline and board games found that those who play the games had a 15% reduced chance of developing dementia than those who don’t. In addition to enhancing intellect and memory, playing board games is an easy method to hone social skills, bring everyone together, and promote engagement.
Charades
The hilarious game of charades will put your acting chops to the test. The elderly may like the friendly competitiveness it fosters because it is often played between two teams. It can improve a person’s social abilities in addition to giving the brain good exercise. Eliminating the time limit to offer players more freedom is one option to change the game so that it is more inclusive of elderly people with dementia.
What Are the Benefits of Dementia Games?
The brain may be effectively exercised by playing games and participating in a range of activities, which has several advantages for senior people with dementia.
It Postpones Memory Deterioration
By engaging them in games and activities, elders might postpone the start of memory loss and other cognitive impairments. Since there are presently no medications available to treat dementia, researchers are becoming more interested in lifestyle choices that might delay the deterioration of the brain which is associated with memory and cognitive issues.
The prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, the first two parts of the brain to be impacted in the initial stages of dementia, can be supported by playing games that place a big emphasis on memory and cognitive connections.
It Serves as a Valuable Platform for Engagement and Socialization
Seniors may maintain their mental acuity as they move through this critical phase in their life by regularly engaging in social interaction with peers and engaging in stimulating activities. Given the health effects of depression and social isolation in old age homes, which are common among people with dementia.
Someone’s sense of belonging is strengthened along with emotions of loneliness and solitude are diminished through engagement through playing games with peers. A senior’s feeling of self-worth can be stimulated and their general quality of life can be improved by socializing with other elderly people, irrespective of if they have dementia.
It Instills a Sense of Consistency and Order
An individual with dementia has to establish a pattern in their life because, as the disease advances, they may start to feel increasingly irritated by the deterioration of their cognitive abilities. In certain situations, this may result in unfavourable behaviours including agitation, aggressiveness, and restlessness.
Routines can provide seniors with a feeling of comfort and familiarity by designating a set time of day for recreation and other standard daily activities. When they are feeling bewildered, having a routine in their day provides them with much-needed steadiness. Always bear in mind, though, that these daily habits don’t have to be rigid. Place greater emphasis on consistency than on strictness.
Leisure and Hobbies for Dementia Patients
There are additional activities outside games that can assist cognitive function in those with dementia, some of which include:
Reading. There are many more ways to read; it’s a lovely enriching pastime. Poems, publications, news, cartoons, and other written or digital items are also available for reading.
Entertainment. One excellent way that contemporary entertainment may keep the brain active is through watching television or enjoying radio programs.
Arts. Painting, sketching, and playing an instrument are just a few examples of the many different types of art. People with dementia benefit from artistic expression in any way.
Learning. It’s a terrific approach to maintaining cognitive abilities as we age to learn novel concepts, either through a course, YouTube videos, or other platforms.
A few of the activities listed above may be challenging for persons with severe dementia since they may find it difficult to complete even simple chores. If so, you might want to stick to simpler brain games, electronic games, playing video games on a computer, talking with friends, browsing through images, and listening to music.
Conclusion
Older adults with dementia may maintain their brain health and have hours of enjoyment at the same time by playing activities that are most appropriate for their requirements. Games and activities are just one part of the dementia treatment process, though.
With Retire Genie’s dementia care in Singapore, senior citizens may get the assistance they require at every step via various means, including companionship, exercises and games, nursing care, and home treatment, while within the apartments for senior citizens. Care plans will be specially created for your older loved one with the assistance of our specialists determined by their health state, care requirements, and preferences, guaranteeing that they are matched with the most appropriate caregiver.
