Engage everyone with these quick-thinking cognitive workouts!

December marks the senior living season of chock-filled calendars, bringing joy but perhaps a bit of frantic overload to all of us working to make the holidays happy and engaging for our residents. Some holiday traditions may not make our healthiest choice list (egg nog or holiday cookies, anyone?). However, there are many that offer us a great way to engage residents in workouts that support better cognitive performance, with intellectual stimulation, social connection, and opportunities to boost everyone’s spirits. 

Here are 3 innovative, brain boosting workouts you can easily fit into the calendar to help make this holiday season more memory-able for all – happy holidays from our TBH team to yours!

Compliments Claus

This no-prep, fast social workout is sure to boost everyone’s spirits, as well as their speedy thinking, nimbleness, and verbal skills.

• Have students break into pairs. 

• Have them take 1 minute each complimenting their partner on one thing, such as their smile, their holiday sweater, etc. 

• When time is up, have students switch to new partners and repeat the workout. 

• Continue until students have all partnered with each other or time is up. 

Winter Wonders

Nourish those neurons with this fun, creative group poetry workout – perfect to share with family and the greater community once you are done! Trains attention, speedy thinking, nimbleness, verbal skills, memory, and executive control.

• Write one of the Winter Wonders poetry prompts on a white board or flip chart.

• Have students take turns adding a line, word, or motion to the poem. 

• Keep going until your group agrees the poem is completed.

• Have fun reciting your Winter Wonders poem together!

• If time allows, use additional prompts to create more Winter Wonders poems.

Winter Wonders Poetry Prompts

The cardinal, so red against the falling snow …

A path appeared across the snowy field, leading …

The pine-scented boughs lined the …

The holiday lights glimmered across the …

Holiday Ho-Ho-Hos

Offer a bit of respite from the holiday high jinks with a break for some deep breathing and relaxation. Great for boosting perception, attention, coordination and emotional balance.

• Have students sit comfortably, with their feet on the floor and hands resting in their laps. Invite them to close their eyes.

• Invite students to take several deep breaths, slowing the rhythm of their breathing with each breath.

• After a few rounds, invite students to add to their breathing by gently verbalizing “ho-ho-ho” as they exhale. 

• Do this for a few minutes together.

• Option to continue with additional verbal prompts as they exhale, such as “he-he-he” and “ha-ha-ha.” You can alternate between the verbal prompts for each exhale round as well. 

• Continue for as long as time allows. If desired, check in on how folks feel before and after the deep breathing workout to encourage them to continue using it on their own as a way to de-stress during the holiday season.

For more information on the Total Brain Health programs to support brain wellness with guided, group-based holistic training for older adults, contact us at info@totalbrainhealth.com. 

Body Brain Fitness Diet Intellectual Health Lifestyle Memory Loss Mental Health Senior Living Social Engagement Thinking Skills Training

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TBH’s Dr. Green recently joined Abbie Ritchie of Senior Living Foresight’s Tech Tuesday to talk about how TBH is adapting our programs for tech delivery and many other brain buzzing topics.

Click to watch.

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THE “GREAT SUMMER BRAIN BUILD”

3 EASY STEPS FOR KEEPING YOUR COMMUNITY ENGAGED AND CHALLENGED THIS SUMMER

Summer is near, along with its eternal promise of fun days in the sun and some well-deserved down time. Isn’t it funny that, no matter how old we get, we shift into “summer mode” when the weather warms? You’d almost think we were getting out of school!

Chances are your community calendar slows down for the summer as well. Perhaps you have learned to schedule less as residents or members take advantage of the warmer weather to travel, or you are adjusting to accommodate staff vacations. Or maybe you have just gotten used to lightening the load as June approaches.

You know what doesn’t slow down for the summer? Our brains! We continue to need stimulation, challenge, and connection to keep our thinking sharp, stay social, and help our minds thrive – no matter the date on the calendar. And while no one wants summer assignments (always dreaded in my household!), simply downgrading the chances everyone has to engage can lead to brain drain.

Here’s an idea – host a “Great Summer Brain Build” instead!

This year, why not flip the script and challenge everyone to spend the summer having fun while building better cognitive fitness? A “Great Summer Brain Build” is the perfect way to keep everyone brain healthy while still taking a bit of a scheduling break. You can give folks the tools they need to stay sharp and vital, no matter where they go over the summer months. And you can support their ability to achieve their own personal brain training goals while building affiliation and happiness with all you have to offer – the very essence of person-centric wellness (and key to retention).

Ready to get started? Here are 3 simple steps to offering a “Great Summer Brain Build” in your community.

1.Think outside the boxes on your calendar. Find new, creative ways everyone can use that can be done independently, are portable and require less time. No need to overload the summer schedule! Try express “pop up” workouts that build specific thinking skills, like attention or speedy thinking. Or offer single session virtual classes to master memory for a specific concern, such as names. Ask folks to pick a brain-related wellness pursuit and commit to doing it for their “build” goals. You can even add a community-wide challenge with daily workouts folks do on their own for “points” they earn over the summer.

2. Keep everyone connected. Drive motivation and affiliation by keeping everyone connected to each other and your “home base,” no matter where the summer takes them. Instead of content-driven classes, host drop-in sessions that allow anyone participating in your “Great Summer Brain Build” the chance to check in for support and comradery when they are around. Keep everyone connected through social media with a dedicated group folks can join to share their brain-boosting adventures, ideas, articles and more. Encourage folks to find a “partner in crime” for the brain build – not only are they more likely to meet their training goals in the company of another, they are also more likely to be happier while doing it!

3. Schedule a time to celebrate success. One thing you should definitely put on the calendar? A time to bring everyone together to celebrate the success of your “Great Summer Brain Build.” Let everyone know well in advance when the program will end so they can plan to complete their target goals accordingly. A celebration gives closure to your program and allows folks to applaud their and each other’s achievements. And it’s perfect not only as a wrap-up event, but also a great time to kick off your fall brain training offerings!

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Total Brain Health Hosts 200+ for “It’s Time to Brain Play!” – A Brain Awareness Week Event

This past Tuesday, over 200 communities registered from across the US and Canada joined Dr. Green and some special guests for our 2nd annual Brain Awareness Week livestream event. The interactive webinar, streamed over Zoom and through TBH partner Touchtown’s new Touchtown Live! service, covered the many ways play is such a boost for our brain.

“We are thrilled that so many communities joined us this year to learn more about that wonderful organ, our brain. We are proud to be a longstanding partner of the Dana Foundation’s Brain Awareness Week initiative, and play our part in helping everyone learn more about what they can do to boost their brain fitness each and every day,” says Dr. Green.

Dr. Green was joined by Acts Retirement-Life Communities residents Sarah Kohler, Ruth Withee, and Ken Justice, who helped demonstrate several of the different ways we can all engage in play to strengthen our thinking skills, creative engagement, and social connection. In thanks for their participation, the panelists will receive complimentary access to TBH’s latest self-paced memory improvement training series, the TBH Build My Memory! Program.

To view a recording of the event, click here. To receive a copy of the event to share with your community, email info@totalbrainhealth.com.

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Here’s To A Year Filled With Brain Play! 3 Ways Letting Our Brains Play Is Just What 2022 Ordered

The playwright George Bernard Shaw once said,  “we don’t stop playing because we grow old,  we grow old because we stop playing.” While  

Shaw might not have known it at the time, current research shows that when it comes to brain training, he was right.  What better time to bring more play to our programs than the fresh start of a new year?  

Here are 3 reasons why adding play to your brain training is one of the best ways you can bring state of the science cognitive wellness to your community, as well as some fun tips you can use to help everyone kick off 2022 with some play filled brain workouts. 

Reason #1: Play targets the thinking skills impacted by aging 

Aging is known to diminish specific abilities key to our daily functioning, such as sustained attention, speedy  thinking, cognitive flexibility, and short-term memory. Changes in these essential skills can make it harder to stay  physically active, pursue our passions or even stay social. However, experts have found that these skills can be  maintained and even improved with training, no matter our age. Play, especially against the clock, is a ready way  we can engage in the targeted workouts proven to support and even sharpen our thinking. And effective, play based training doesn’t require much commitment. Even short, bursts of activity for a few minutes a day can add up  to be a powerful way to fit brain boosting into everyone’s daily routine. Try taking just 5 minutes to challenge folks  to name all the car models they can, or to create a group poem together by quickly having to offer a line at their  turn. You can even “pop up” in unexpected places or times to give everyone the chance to brain play. 

Reason #2: Play offers the novelty our brains crave 

Our brains really love novelty. Research shows that when something is new to us, we release increased levels  of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which primes the pleasure centers in our brains. What better way to tap that  novelty-driven brain boost than through play? Play gives us a continual opportunity for unexpected outcomes, even when the structure of the game or workout is the same. Each round we play, no matter how familiar the  game, offers its own element of surprise. Play-based cognitive training takes advantage of the benefits of novelty  to deepen the benefits of the workout by motivating us to fully engaged, to learn, and to be empowered to  change and grow. Try cognitive workouts that have an unexpected twist, such as improv exercises like “Yes and…” or creative art exercises such as the famous surrealist art game “exquisite corpse,” where students are asked  to draw on part of a sheet folded in fourths, not seeing or knowing what others are drawing on the other folded  sections.  

Reason #3: Play makes brain training fun and sustainable 

Resolutions to improve our well-being are ever popular at the start of the year. Unfortunately, our promises to  “do better” rarely are kept. Why do so many of us fail to meet our new year’s health goals? Experts tell us that a  major roadblock to making our resolutions stick is that it’s just plain hard to keep up the momentum long enough  to really change our habits. One way we can make our brain health (or any) resolutions more sustainable is by  making that training more playful. Play is fun! It can keep training from getting too tedious and make the work a  bit lighter and less burdensome. In addition, the novelty of play increases the chances we will stay engaged and  excited to learn and change. Finally, play gives us an easy way to join with others in the pursuit of our resolutions.  That additional level of social engagement not only boosts our chances of achieving our health goals but can  benefit our thinking and other aspects of well-being. You can boost the fun and sustainability of everyone’s brain  training goals with the proven benefits of gamification, which uses game-based play elements such as points,  badges, or prizes to drive ongoing work towards a health goal. Try a 1 week brain training point-based challenge  or a community-wide team competition that encourages folks to socialize and support each other as they work  towards better brain health.  

No matter how you integrate play to your cognitive fitness program, it is certain to bring an added boost that folks will benefit from.  

Here’s to a new year filled with many play-filled moments of building better brain health for everyone! 

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Got Brain in the Game? Here’s Why You Should

What’s your favorite game? Perhaps you are a huge Mario fan, or love nothing more than a fierce round of chess. Always a popular pastime, games have provided distraction and a way to connect for many of us during the pandemic.

Did you know adding a bit of game to wellness engagement can bring buy-in to a whole new level? Research shows that even just a few game-based elements can make it easier to stick to healthier habits. And adding gamification to brain training packs even more of a punch, since most games themselves offer meaningful ways to target everyday cognitive skills.

Want to learn more about how you can raise the game on your cognitive wellness program? Here’s what you need to know!

What Is Gamification?

Gamification has been defined as “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts.” In other words, we borrow concepts usually associated with games such as points, badges, team play, and competitions to promote engagement in a new context, such as a weight loss or brain training program. Gamification for health promotion first gained attention in the 1990s and has grown significantly over the past three decades with a wide variety of both traditional and electronically based training models now available.

Does It Really Work?

Yes! Research shows gamification boosts participation, continuity and satisfaction. A 2016 study on gamification for health behaviors found that “gamification can have a positive impact for health and well-being related interventions.” Whether we are tracking points or helping our team get ahead, the positive reinforcement game elements provide are very motivating. They can also add a measurable aspect to improvements that can sometimes be hard to assess personally, such as managing stress better or being more social. As wellness experts, we can use the power of the game to drive healthier behaviors.

Why Should Our Brains Get in the Game?

Brain fitness and gamification are perfect together. Game elements can add challenges, such as playing against the clock or against others, that add robust ways to target thinking skills that are not only key to daily functioning but also vulnerable to age-related changes including sustained attention and processing speed. Games are also a wonderful source of intellectual engagement, and one of the most common ways we spend our leisure time. In addition, gamification can make the at times tedious practice of memory-boosting strategies much more fun and effective. Lastly, adding some game to our brain training allows us more opportunity to socialize and connect with others, a big bonus for those vulnerable to isolation and loneliness.

I’m Game! What Are the Instructions?

Bringing aspects of gamification to boost your cognitive training is a (sorry!) no-brainer. There is a wealth of models, a wide complement of brain wellness targets, and a range of opportunities. Look for game-based programs that encourage behaviors we know support brain fitness, including physical activity, socializing and emotional well-being. Engage everyone’s thinking skills with cognitive training that includes robust, exciting ways to be part of the action. Finally, don’t be fooled by fancy bells and whistles! You can achieve huge success with game-based brain training approaches that are group-based, easily accessible and just plain fun.

Want to test out a short game-based workout in your community? Try our TBH On Demand Game Your Brain! 15-minute interactive workout video and worksheet for some fast-paced gamification fun.

Johnson, Deterding, Kuhn et al. Gamification for health and wellbeing: A systemic review of the literature. Internet Interv 2016 Nov 2; 6:89-106.

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