Games for dementia patients

There is Life after Dementia Too: For Those Who Came in Late! (Submitted on Ezine) I remember, in 2010, when my grandfather was still alive, and he was suffering from memory loss, how he used to phase in and out of his ‘life story’. He used to go into a certain type of ‘void’, where he could not remember what he had ate one hour ago, and could not recognize his own children and grandchildren. Little had my family known then, that there is a solution for memory loss: Games for Dementia Patients! If we had known any better, we would have admitted him into a specialized Dementia Care Facility, where they have various programs for them. Instead, we made the usual mistake of admitting him into a general oldage home.

Dementia is a general term that describes a variety of symptoms. Memory loss is a subtype of Dementia. Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells.

Although, today, there exist many ways to reduce or even reverse Dementia, like diet, exercise, Venom (Honey Bee, Snake), and so on, in this blog I will focus on games for Dementia patients as another innovative way!

Dementia can be reversed: The fact!

Let me come back to my original topic of games for Dementia patients: finding those games can be time-consuming and engaging. So, I am going to list them here along with their benefits ok. Here, engagement is an important term. If a patient is not engaged, then he/she is likely to fall into the four a’ of Alzheimer’s namely: apathy, aggression, agitation and anxiety. As you will see, these games are for stimulation, rather than competitive purposes.

1. Bingo: It has shown to have positive effects. It is as low tech as any games for Dementia patients are going to get! Is has use in improving cognitive functions, and in providing mental stimulation. Tests conducted showed it had a long lasting effect on alertness and awareness.

2. Board Games: There is a saying, ‘As we get older, we are actually getting younger!’ As jigsaw puzzles are famous among children, similarly, board games are a hit with the elderly.

It provides a type of sensory stimulation. Among games for Dementia patients, board games are a sea of color-Pollyanna, Candyland.

3. Physical Exercises: Activities play an essential role in preventing the progress of Dementia, as a social circle prevents loneliness and generates a feeling of belongingness. These can include walking, aerobics, jogging, laughter therapy, etc. They help in rejuvenation of mood and enthusiasm. They can also involve gardening, doing cleaning work or preparing foods.

4. Card Games: These can involve many different types such as ‘Old Maid’ and ‘Go Fish’.

Rummy and Black Jack are evergreen favorites.

5. Computer Based: In a research done in Spain, a computer-based game called as Smartbrain, has emerged as the best among games for Dementia patients. Being a computer-based game, it has promising prospects because these can be instructed to play at the competence level of the player.

As you can see, there is a wide spectrum of benefits to our ‘better halves’ from playing these games.

However, make sure in allotting these games for Dementia patients according to association. A patient who has played a game as a child in the past, will relate more easily to it than another game that he/she had played more recently!