Doing puzzles is a healthy brain activity that benefits the mind and spirit. Family caregivers can choose from a variety of puzzles, based on their aging loved one’s physical and emotional needs. Continue reading to learn about some of the reasons puzzles are beneficial for seniors with dementia.
Boost Cognitive Health
As dementia progresses, it can affect memory, making it difficult to store and retrieve information. The damage to the brain may be enough to cause your loved one to forget important people in his or her life as well as precious memories. However, brain stimulation can boost cognitive functioning. Working on puzzles can trigger memories and alleviate many of the symptoms associated with dementia. Completing projects like puzzles can strengthen short-term memory and enhance visual perception.
Seniors with dementia can optimize their quality of life with the help of highly trained, experienced professional caregivers. Caring for a senior with dementia can be challenging for family caregivers. Luckily, there is elderly home care Frederick families can rely on. Professional caregivers help seniors with dementia stay safe and comfortable at home by preventing wandering, providing cognitive stimulation, and assisting with household chores.
Reduce the Risk of Isolation
Isolation is a severe issue for aging adults with dementia, so you should find fun social activities for your loved one to engage in, such as playing games and working on puzzles with friends and family. Doing puzzles with others is a social activity that can enhance communication and interaction skills. While creating ways to solve the puzzles, your loved one can enjoy conversations with friends, share stories, discuss accomplishments he or she has achieved, and catch up on the latest news. These are bonding moments that boost memory while lowering the risk of boredom and isolation.
A senior’s sense of isolation can be mitigated with the assistance and companionship of a compassionate professional caregiver. Many seniors prefer aging in place over moving to assisted living facilities. If your senior loved one needs assistance to remain safe and comfortable while living at home, reach out to Assisting Hands Home Care, a leading elder care agency. Our dedicated in-home caregivers can assist with meal prep, bathing and grooming, exercise, medication reminders, and many other important tasks.
Provide a Sense of Purpose
Solving puzzles can help elderly people feel accomplished, appreciated, and in control, which is vital to their quality of life. With so many changes taking place in life after a dementia diagnosis, seniors will want to gain control over as much as possible, which is why purposeful activities are important. Your loved one’s confidence can increase while solving the different puzzles. Completing a task or project like this can boost the brain’s production of dopamine, a “feel-good” chemical that can brighten your loved one’s day and make him or her feel accomplished.
Stimulate the Brain
Dementia will affect your loved one’s thinking, behavior, and ability to complete daily tasks. Therefore, you’ll need to find fun activities that work out the brain and keep it functioning as normally as possible. Solving puzzles is a stimulating activity because it works out both sides of the brain. While completing puzzles, the mind focuses on a variety of things, including logic, creativity, order, and intuitive thought. Mental activities like this could build up your loved one’s brain reserves and compensate for some of the damage caused by dementia.
Professional caregivers with training and expertise in methods of cognitive stimulation can be wonderful assets for seniors with dementia. Not every senior has the same care needs, which means they don’t all need the same type of senior home care. Frederick families can rely on Assisting Hands Home Care to provide individualized care plans to meet their elderly loved ones’ unique care needs. Our caregivers help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and we encourage mentally stimulating activities that can stave off cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia. To learn more about our premier in-home care plans, call us at (301) 786-5045 today.
