Keeping The Grey Matter Active

We read with great interest last week about how doing a quiz a day keeps dementia at bay and is at least as effective as medication. Now, we would never advocate anyone stopping medication or not taking anything prescribed by a doctor, but keeping the brain active along with traditional scientific treatments for dementia has to be a winner; it certainly can do you no harm. Even those without dementia will benefit from doing a simple crossword or word searches every day and it helps pass the time in a fun way too.

As well as daily paper coffee break quiz sections and cross and quiz word books and magazines, there are loads of TV programmes that make you think too. Everyone loves an Egghead (BBC2 6pm weekdays) and of course there’s the ever popular Countdown and sitting down for half an hour with a cup of tea and a biscuit has to be one the best ways to exercise a part of your body! Many of our residents gather to watch these shows and it can get quite competitive on occasions when we actually make teams and pitch our wits against each other.

We regularly do quiz activities ourselves with the staff playing quiz master. Not only is this great fun and often results in great hilarity from some of the answers and comments from one team to another, but by choosing questions from days gone by it becomes a useful reminiscence tool and helps us assess our residents’ dementia status.

We wholeheartedly advocate and facilitate our residents using their brains as much as they can, and their bodies too. This can be done in many ways from a simple armchair exercising (we hold regular sessions), through to simply offering choice (a big deal for us and something each and every one of our residents does and is encouraged to do daily). Every activity requires thought process, which in turn keeps the brain ticking over nicely. For example, we encourage our residents to bake and do gardening, things they would’ve done and enjoyed in their own private homes, this not only gives a sense of enjoyment and pride in the results, but keeps body and mind active and daily living skills going too.  And you can do the same at home!

So, if quizzing is good for you I’m off to find the crossword, as I could do with a little mental agility myself.

Now, seven down, four letters beginning with ‘Q’ and ending in ‘Z’, to test the knowledge of one by posing question.... I wonder what that could be?....