Maria Tzavaras
Inside Toronto
June 7, 2010
As we age, it's just as important to keep our minds healthy as it is our bodies.
For seniors, brain fitness is extremely important because once people's mind begin to deteriorate their quality of life can quickly follow.
St. Paul's L'Amoreaux Centre in Scarborough have a variety of programs to keep their seniors' minds healthy, and take a holistic approach to their care, said Roberta Wong, director of client care and community services.
Wong said physical and mental health go hand in hand so staff at St. Paul's try to provide activities to exercise the brain and promote an active lifestyle and healthy nutrition.
"We try to make sure they have enough stimulation to keep their minds active," Wong said, adding brain fitness is important in staving off certain conditions and diseases.
Memory loss is one thing brain fitness helps to fight against.
Wong said people often think memory loss is a given when you age, but that's not entirely true. And while everyone experiences some decline, unless there is a real health reason, sometimes people use age as an excuse for memory loss when it's more often a case of use it or lose it.
"They think 'if I am forgetful that's normal' but it's not always true; it's because they did not keep their minds active," Wong said. "You have to exercise your mind to keep it sharp."
Some of the activities St. Paul's provides includes playing Jeopardy and Brain Beats, a game that uses beats and rhythm of music to help memory to keep the player on his toes.
Seniors also play Wii twice a week. Wong said Wii is popular amongst their seniors, but it's also extremely beneficial because they're using their bodies and their minds to play the game, plus they are being social because they play with a partner.
Wong said companionship and being social is another important component to maintaining a healthy mind.
Seniors are often encouraged to read, do a crossword or sudoku puzzle, and while these things are useful in keeping the brain fit, these are solitary activities and it's important for seniors to socialize.
"They need to develop friendships and be social because depression is one of the No. 1 diagnosis for seniors," she said.
Wong said if seniors, many of whom also have mobility challenges, become isolated and depressed, their mind function can deteriorate and any physical ailments may become pronounced and they begin to slowly fade away.
"People who are depressed and not being looked after, they will most likely die earlier and they will certainly die earlier than others who are not depressed because they don't have interests in their life," Wong said. "Some even go to the extremes and end their life."
Keeping an active lifestyle can also be helpful in staving off some forms of dementia.
Wong said there are different philosophies about dementia with some researchers thinking its inherited while others say there are other factors.
"The air that we breathe, the food that we eat, different things can contribute to dementia," Wong said, adding keeping your mind healthy and active is huge factor in fighting the disease.
Because brain fitness is so important to St. Paul's, they've decided to introduce something new to the senior community, a trivia game called Grey Matters.
SageHealth Network, an agency providing seniors' health promotion, has teamed up St. Paul's with PubStumpers Trivia League, the creators of Grey Matters, to launch this new game geared toward older adults and seniors.
Christopher Wright, president and creator of PubStumpers, said the original PubStumpers trivia is played in bars and other social establishments in a team format for 12-week seasons. A host asks a series of questions using visual and musical clips and multiple choice that covers a range of topics.
"It can be anything. I try to spread it around...there's pop culture, science, geography, history and sports, religion and philosophy, anything you can imagine," he said.
Using the same format, Wright, who writes and researches the questions, has created Grey Matters, tailoring it to seniors by offering trivia they can relate to.
"The question will be relevant to them. Things they may have learned in school or pop culture form the eras in which they grew up," Wright said, adding topics will span from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Seniors will play six rounds with five short answer and multiple choice questions as well as identify music clips. Wright said he not only feels seniors will enjoy playing the game, but it will be beneficial as well.
"What we're trying to do with Grey Matters is to promote the idea that using your brain is a healthy thing to do and helps you to keep mentally acute," Wright said. "It's good to keep the brain active. If you let your brain go stale, you will probably go stale, too," Wright said.
He said PubStumpers also encourages seniors to be social, play as a team and use their minds.
"It gives them something to do and it's beneficial in the long run to maintain their quality of life and stave off the potential senility and the loss of mental faculties that would naturally come with age if you didn't fight it," Wright said.
Wong said St. Paul's is always looking for new ways to bring beneficial activities to its seniors, and this game is a new way to challenge seniors while they have fun.
"If you just ask them questions, people find it dull and they don't want to participate," Wong said. "But if it's in a game format, people find it both challenging and interesting and it encourages them to stay with the game."
