an article of Ana SantaolallaProject Manager
of and Project Megara
He cognitive decline It supposes the loss of some of our capacities, one of the main ones being memory, but losing memory does not mean not being able to do things or being able to continue enjoying what we do. At Los Llanos Vital we know that, precisely, the best thing to do in these cases is for the elderly to do as many things as possible, giving them tools to complement their capabilities, as this will help stay active and keep exercising your memorysomething fundamental in this type of pathologies.
We are very clear that the fact that the elderly remain socially active is essential to treat cognitive impairment. For this reason, we are committed to a series of innovative activities that encourage their participation and make those parts of memory that interest us work while they enjoy a good time in the company of, among others, young people from nearby schools with whom we develop a whole program of intergenerational activities.
This is the case, for example, of our Radio Always Vital. Several times a year the Assembly Hall of our Residence and Day Center becomes a whole radio studio. The microphones give voice to our elders who for several weeks have worked together with the students of the Orvalle College the contents of each program.
During the work sessions, they decide as a team the topics to be discussed, the approach they are going to give them and the contents are scripted. It is possible that on the day of the broadcast, the elderly with cognitive impairment do not remember what they decided in the work sessions, but they do know that they have a script in their hands and an open microphone to listen to what they have to say, that they are developing an important activity. The Orvalle students are, in this case, their point of support to follow the program, the complement to their deterioration and the facilitators of the activity.
We achieved the same with another of our intergenerational activities, the once upon a programwhich we developed with the Montessori College. Every Thursday, a fixed group of seniors from Los Llanos Vital comes to the school to share an hour of reading with the little ones. The classroom is divided into older/smaller pairs and the children approach one by one to practice their reading with one of the older ones. The older one helps the younger one to pronounce and intonation the words in which he has difficulty and satisfies her curiosity about those that he does not know.
In the reading group there are seven people, specifically, two of them have been diagnosed with dementia. They are not able to remember what day it is or on what days they have to go to school, but they are able to actively participate in the dynamics, led by the elderly who do not have cognitive impairment. From the moment they prepare to get on the route to school, they know perfectly well that they are going to help children improve their reading, which will be an important part of their learning. In addition, as there is a weekly routine in the activity, we manage to generate a affective and cognitive bond with this activity. Finally, that space and time, which at first was not recognized by them, ends up being so.
With this activity we get the elderly, by the mere fact of being with children, motivated, as well as being aware of the importance of the work they do. The older one has the time to accompany the child while he reads, he has serenity, patience, does not judge mistakes and has enough knowledge to be able to explain concepts that they extract from reading. In this way, the older person feels active, develops feelings of confidence and self-esteem, remembers concepts that he knows, feels that he has left a teaching and feels useful.
Another of the therapies that helps us deepen stimulation is music therapy. It’s amazing how music awakens your senses and your memories! People with cognitive impairment do not forget the lyrics and music of the songs that they learned well during their childhood or youth. Remembering those lyrics with them and having them sing them puts their memory to work and exercises it, delaying the progression of the disease and awakening different feelings in them.
This workshop is directed precisely towards the elderly with cognitive impairment. It is a way of using the art to promote your well-beingin a playful way we work the psychomotricity and memory. Again it is a therapy that improves the self-esteem of the elderly and their mood. By participating in it secrete serotonin and release endorphinsthereby increasing your sense of well-being and happiness.
Another of the essentials that cannot be missing among our therapies is the sewing workshop. When sewing, knitting or embroidering, a part of their memory is also stimulated, our elders carry out an activity that they know well, with which we get them to reconnect with it. It is also a time for interaction, since its dynamics favor conversation and group work. It is not essential to be able to sew, what is essential is to want to be in a space, where what is done connects with something of mine, with something in which I recognize myself because I have done it, and that, that is what each one of us , in the capacities that he has, motivates him to “do” that day.
Something similar happens with our orchard hope. By planting the seeds, watering, or collecting the fruits that our small plots of land bear, the elderly with cognitive impairment reconnect with something that most of them have done at some point in their lives. For our garden to be well cared for, the elderly have, once again, the collaboration of children from nearby schoolsto those who explain what they have to do so that the land is well worked, or how to collect its fruits without damaging the plant.
In this way, we achieve not only the transmission of the legacy, but also an activity “shared with pleasure” between these two groups. The activity generates a relationship and what awakens that relationship is what we rely on.
In short, since The Vital Plains We are committed to this type of therapy with which we help the elderly to keep their memories alive as they are socially active. With this we manage to improve their well-being, work their memory and delay the negative effects associated with cognitive deterioration. We have seen that these therapies work, and we will continue betting on them and creating new ones with which we can continue to deepen our work.