Seniors use video games to stay sharp

As individuals age, their cognitive skills tend to decline. However, some seniors have taken to video games to stay sharp and fit in a fun way. Here are just four of the ways that video games can help your cognitive performance.

1. According to Psychology and Aging, playing complex video games after receiving training may improve the cognitive function of seniors.

2. Aside from improving their cognitive functions, video games, which require seniors to juggle multiple tasks, may also improve their ability to perform other everyday tasks.

3. Research conducted in the past indicates that Nintendo Wii games can be successfully used to help treat seniors with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other illnesses of a psychological or psychosocial nature.

4. Preliminary studies have shown that video games with a strategic element may help older adults keep their brains sharp.

So while the common image of playing video games appears dormant and mind-dulling, studies seem to show the contrary. More and more research is coming out just as fast as Wii games are selling out proving that certain video games can legitimately improve senior’s health by keeping them active, both physically and mentally.

Courtesy of Home Care Blog

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Home Care Assistance offers the highest quality 24/7 live-in home care in the Region of Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Milton), Region of Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Hamilton.

10 Ways to Vacation Proof Your Home

As many individuals gear up for a vacation during the long days of summer, criminals know this time of year as the busy season due to all of the empty houses that are left behind. Statistics actually show an increase in break-ins during the summer months. However, the threat of your house being burgled should not hinder your travel plans as long as you have taken the correct precautions.

10) Deny Access
According to experts, doors and windows are the most common way in for criminals. Make sure the frames of the window are sturdy enough and difficult to break. Sliding doors can be "locked" by placing a bar or sawed-off hockey stick in its path. For actual door locks, deadbolts are by far much safer and stronger than the smaller versions found in the doorknob.

9) Make Some Noise
Home alarms are great deterrents for anyone looking to break in and many even have a function that informs the authorities. Two commons types of alarms are entry alarms that sound when a window or door is opened and motion-sensor alarms that sound when movement id detected inside of the house. These alarms can be found at your local hardware store and could possibly reduce your insurance policy. Of course, if you have the finances and time you can also consider an extensive home alarm system for added security.

8) Make Some Cuts
Trim all of your hedges and shrubs before you leave to keep them looking maintained during your vacation. An overgrown plant can be a tell-tale sign that no one is around and also serves as a useful hiding place in front of your house.

7) Light Up
Criminals love to operate in the dark away from prying eyes. Keeping your house well-lit - inside and out - is an excellent deterrent and alludes to people inside of the house. For the outside, a motion-sensor light can help keep energy costs down while putting the attention of whoever or whatever is sneaking around your house. Solar lights also help with the budget while keeping the area sufficiently illuminated.

6) Disconnect Your Digital Self
Your physical house is not the only personal space that can be compromised by criminals. Your computer stores important and sensitive personal information that can be accessed by the wrong people. The best way to ensure that this does not happen is to disconnect your Internet connection by unplugging any LAN cables or wireless router in your house.

5) Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Keep all expensive objects such as decorations and electronics out of sight from the windows. Even if someone manages to get inside of your house, keeping things well hidden and out of sight can limit the physical and financial damage that is done. Very often, burglers are looking for jewelry or anything that can be converted into cash easily. Consider moving these items out of your house in a safety deposit box or at a friend's house.

4) Act Like You Never Left
If you remember Home Alone, it is quite easy to make an empty house come alive and appear as if there are people residing inside. Use timers to turn different lights on at varying times of the day or to turn on electronics that make noise like a television or stereo. However, turn off the ringer on your telephones to prevent people from hearing the unanswered rings. Closed blinds and drapes may actually attract criminals who see an abandoned house so it is best to keep them open and how they normally look.

3) A Little Help From Friends
If you have a trusted neighbour or friend, they can be extremely helpful for keeping an eye on your home. Aside from maintaining your house and other aspects of everyday life, having someone checking out your house every few days makes your house seem less vulnerable to burglary.

2) Be Anonymous
Try not to leave your personal information such as your name and number on anything readily visible by the public. Expert criminals can use that information to track you down or gain more sensitive information. Do not change your answering machine to say that your are away from home or give a return date.

1) Keep It To Yourself
In today's connected world, it seems like everyone knows what you are doing before you do it. Refrain from telling your friends about your plans, especially on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter because you may be broadcasting that information to complete strangers. With the information that is contained on your social profiles (address, living situation, contacts) this can make you an easy target for criminals online.

Source: 50plus.com, TD Insurance, Reuters, The Insurance Information Institute, Toronto Police Service

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Home Care Assistance offers the highest quality 24/7 live-in home care in the Region of Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Milton), Region of Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Hamilton.

How to Live to 102 - Secret #14

Adjust your workspace. Avoid "computer neck" by adjusting your monitors so you are looking at them straight, and by realigning the keyboards so that your elbows are slightly bent and shoulders are relaxed.

Source: Canadian Living

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Home Care Assistance offers the highest quality 24/7 live-in home care in the Region of Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Milton), Region of Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Hamilton.

Study: Having Close Friends Leads to Longer Life

By Kevin Lee

Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad, an associate psychology professor at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah has co-written a study showing that people with strong close relationships are 50% more likely to live longer than those without. These relationships have been linked to lower blood pressure, better immune functioning and decreasing hospitalization length. In other words, the risks associated with being isolated and alone are as severe as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, being an alcoholic or being inactive and obese. The report analyzed 148 studies of over 300,000 people with an average age of 64 evenly divided between males and females. The participants were followed for an average of 7.5 years and showed that those over 18 with strong relationships lived an average of 3.7 years longer.

"Our relationships can have direct health benefits. They can help us cope with stress. We know we can count on people and have those resources available." - Holt-Lunstad

Having close friends or a support network of caring people can be crucial to getting through the tougher moments in life and has been linked to the stress-regulating hormone, oxytocin. Sharing problems with one another is an excellent stress reliever and gives people the sense that their pain is not exclusive to themselves. The study states that being part of a social network makes people feel needed and boosts self-esteem leading to taking better care of oneself.

"Social contact is to humans what water is to fish: you don't notice it until it's missing and then you realize it's really important" - John Cacioppo, University of Chicago

Holt-Lunstad suggests that the decline of inter-generational living arrangements and increasing affluence are intensifying the trend of isolation among middle- and higher-aged people. A 2006 study in the American Sociological Review found that "over the last two decades, there has been a three-fold increase in the number of Americans who report having no confidante" With the emerging role of technology in people's social lives, Holt-Lunstad wonders if the trade-off in face time for online time can have the same benefits. As Facebook recently reached its 500 millionth user, we should take time a reflect on the nature of our social interactions. Holt-Lunstad's study, co-authored with Timothy Smith and J. Bradley Layton appears in the current issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.

Source: Globe and Mail, Wednesday July 28 Edition (A2), globeandmail.com

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Home Care Assistance offers the highest quality 24/7 live-in home care in the Region of Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Milton), Region of Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Hamilton.

Seniors Enter the Digital Age

This article goes into the lives of several seniors citizens to explain how and why they decided to go digital — and are loving it! One woman, Judy Bennett, chose to conquer her fear of computers and take classes at a local senior center in order to feel more connected with her young grandchildren. She signed up on Facebook and now feels much closer with her grandchildren, whom she can view pictures of and send messages to with a few simple clicks.

Bennett is definitely not alone, according to a Pew Internet & American Life survey that reported a 26 percent increase in the amount of 70-75 year-olds using the Internet from 2005 to 2008. Jerry Schulz, who teaches the senior center computer classes that Bennett utilized, says that most people take these classes to connect with their grandchildren, or reconnect with old friends and classmates. She also says that it helps seniors feel connected to the world, and can eliminate some feelings of isolation.

According to Schultz, "most [seniors] have computers; they're just not using them". Many seniors come into his classes wanting to know how to upload and manage their old photographs on their computers and to learn about geneology and family history. A popular application is Skype, which allows seniors to have video and text chats with friends and family. It is important to focus on one area of interest for the senior rather than trying to showcase everything that the Internet has to offer at once. “To get interested in a computer, a person only needs one thing,” Just do one thing and then let it digest.

Schulz says many of his students don't give themselves any credit. “They all think they're dumb,” said Schulz. Often, he hears a family member has already tried to show them how to use the computer and it didn't go well. “They usually don't have the patience to deal with a 70-year-old mind.” Family members may see something as easy or intuitive but that isn't the case for older individuals.

Schultz believes that seniors benefit from the brain activity required to use a computer. “The benefits are just enormous,” said Marion Somers, a geriatric care manager in Los Angeles, “It brings them back to a time when they were younger, more vital.” For some people, their sense of purpose in life can increase.

Somers emphasizes the importance of the proper setting. Older individuals will need a lot of natural and ambient light. Relatives may want to increase the brightness of the screen and also increase the font size to make it easier to read. Some seniors who use bifocals may prefer to get a separate pair of glasses to make reading the computer screen easier. Somers also thinks people should invest in a decent chair, preferably one with arms to make it easier to get out of. She also thinks it is important to tell seniors that computers are not that fragile and they shouldn't worry so much about breaking them.

Schulz starts his classes by going over basic keyboard skills. There are numerous keys on a keyboard that don't appear on a typewriter: Backspace, Delete, Enter, Ctrl, Alt, and on and on. Another basic skill Schulz teaches is how the windows on the computer work, including how to move and re-size them. Security, viruses and spam are also important lessons. Schulz talks about how to recognize a valid link online, versus a risky link.

Many seniors just beginning to learn about computers will not know the proper terminology and may make up their own names for different things. Somers suggests the teacher embrace this terminology and then write it down so, over time, the senior may learn the proper name (for instance, one person called the keyboard the “alphabet block”). Right clicking the mouse is another important tool to learn. Schulz says about 80 percent of class attendees don't know this idea before coming to class. But often it's a very useful tool because some seniors struggle with double clicking. They either pause too long between clicks or move the mouse slightly between clicks. Learning to right click can eliminate the need to double click in many instances.

After their classes many seniors take pride in the knowledge they have acquired. For many, computer literacy feels like a revolution in the way of life.

"I was actually afraid of my computer. It indimidates us," said 70 year-old Mary Pitt before her computer class. However, once she completed the course and gained a greater familiarity with the intimidating machine, her view has completely changed, "I'm sold on computers".

Source: The Bend Bulletin

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Home Care Assistance offers the highest quality 24/7 live-in home care in the Region of Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, and Milton), Region of Peel (Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon) and Hamilton.

Seniors Should Bring Out Their Inner Child

Every time seniors play a game of cards or Scrabble® or even play certain computer games, they’re stimulating their brains and staving off the onset of dementia or even Alzheimer’s disease. This conclusion comes from long-time and recent studies that found that seniors who engage in mentally demanding leisure activities lowered their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia by as much as 75 percent.

Sometimes A Game Isn’t Only A Game.
Researchers found that playing chess, checkers, backgammon or cards was associated with a reduced risk of dementia. Playing a musical instrument and reading had similar effects. Solving frequent crossword puzzles helped too, but to a lesser degree. Curiously, most physical activities, like group exercise or team games, did not show much of a positive effect on reducing dementia in this study. The only exception was ballroom dancing. Researchers think this benefit comes from the mental demands of remembering dance steps, moving to music and coordinating with a partner.

Your Brain. Use It or Lose It.
Seniors need to exercise their brains on a regular basis as they grow older. They should set aside one hour each day for this area of exercise. Activities that keep a person actively searching for words (such as Scramble®, Scrabble®, and crossword puzzles) are especially helpful for improving word recognition, retaining vocabulary and reducing memory loss.

Seniors who engaged in cognitive exercises by playing board games or doing Sudoku puzzles were much less likely to develop dementia thanthose who did not.

Taking the High Tech Approach

Electronic games and even computer-based, cognitive training programs can actually reverse cognitive impairment in many seniors. One such game is Simon®, the electronic game that became a pop culture icon in the 1980s and is still selling wildly today. To win, the player must repeat the pattern of lights and sounds made by the computer by pressing the buttons in the same sequence. The longer it’s played the faster the game goes. Another similar game is Bop It® where the player must repeat an ever-growing sequence of actions that are called out by the toy until they make a mistake. Like Simon®, Bop It® tests and trains the player's cognitive and memory skills however it also adds a physical aspect.

Computers are becoming more popular with the elderly as computers and video game consoles (particularly the Nintendo Wii) become more accessible and affordable. As of 2008, more than 23% of older adults in North America aged 65 and older play computer games. Seniors who do play computer games tend to play them more frequently than younger adults. Over one-third of gamers 65 and older say they play games everyday or almost everyday.

The best computer games for seniors are ones that require them to use their memory, calculation and decision making skills, instead of simply shootem-up games or simulators. Many computer games are now designed solely to keep the mind sharp and can be played by people of all ages (such as Ultimate Brain Games on the Nintendo DS and Brain Challenge on the XBOX 360). Playing games not only provides entertainment and quality companionship, it also helps prolong seniors’ sharpness of mind and quality of life.