One way to help delay the progression of certain Alzheimer’s symptoms is to keep seniors cognitively engaged. If you’re a family caregiver looking for ways to help your elderly loved one, try incorporating some intellectually stimulating activities into his or her daily routine. The following are four activities that experts at Dallas Home Care Assistance recommend to help stimulate cognition among seniors with Alzheimer’s.
1. Arts and Crafts
For many seniors with Alzheimer’s, activities that require creativity can help delay cognitive decline. If your elderly loved one enjoys making gifts by hand, arts and crafts can be a fun and productive way to stay mentally engaged.
2. Baking and Cooking
Cooking and baking, which require careful reading and attention to detail, are good activities for seniors with Alzheimer’s who live at home. While certain symptoms of the condition can make working in the kitchen dangerous, the assistance of a Dallas in-home caregiver can promote a senior’s sense of purpose and help him or her contribute to his or her own care.
3. Crossword Puzzles
Though these puzzles can be challenging, easy crossword puzzles can help jog seniors’ memories and prompt them recall information to boost their self-confidence. Since simpler puzzles will be easier to solve for most seniors, working on and completing a puzzle may help enhance their sense of accomplishment, while simultaneously exercising their cognitive skills. Many Dallas Alzheimer’s care services include similar games and puzzles in their programs.
4. Reading Newspapers
Keeping up with current events by reading the newspaper can be a useful way for seniors to stay intellectually stimulated. Reading is shown to activate several areas of the brain at once, which is an important exercise for a senior’s mind. By simply reading parts of the newspaper while eating breakfast each morning, it can make a big difference.
Dallas Home Care Assistance provides inclusive care programs for seniors with Alzheimer’s, including our proprietary Cognitive Therapeutics Method. This program incorporates a series of mentally stimulating activities that focuses on language, memory, attention, and visual-spatial perception to enhance life quality and delay cognitive decline. For more information regarding flexible as-needed care in your area, call us at 214.363.3400. We look forward to hearing from you.