3 Bridging Activities That You Can Do Remotely with Your Elderly Clients
Therapy never has to stop for your elderly clients. Bridging helps your clients connect their computerized cognitive training with their everyday lives. In this blog post, we share with you 3 bridging activities that you can do with your elderly clients to help them practice cognitive skills remotely.
1. Show and Tell
Using a webcam, you can meet with your elderly clients online. In this activity, each participant can turn on their camera and microphone to present an object that is meaningful to them. You can ask your client questions about what they choose to show the group and its significance to them such as: when did you last interact with this object, how does this object make you feel, what is your favorite memory of this object? For a problem solving group, have each member share an object that they have trouble using and have the group discuss how they can approach learning how to use the object.
Good for:
Verbal Fluency
Problem Solving
Recall
2. Music, Television, or Movie Trivia
Provide a fun experience for your elderly clients by incorporating other forms of media such as videos, show clips, and music into your therapy sessions. You can use different forms of media to help your elderly clients reminisce while helping them practice recall. Make sure you research what shows, music, and movies were popular during your client’s lifetime. For each trivia question, you can ask your clients where they first heard or saw each song, show, or movie. Websites and applications such as Youtube and Spotify offer a collection of materials that you can readily access and develop into playlists for these kinds of activities.
Good for:
Recall
Auditory Processing
Visual Memory
Working Memory
3. Creative Writing Club
Verbal memory and fluency are important for elderly clients as these skills can deteriorate due to the onset of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and even isolation. For this activity, you can give each member the same or different writing prompts and have them develop a short story to read out loud during the bridging group. For a group activity, you can split group members into teams and have them develop a story collaboratively. If using this option, make sure that you check in each group and help each member brainstorm, contribute ideas, and develop the storyline.
Good for:
Verbal Fluency
Verbal Memory
Working Memory
Executive Functioning
Conclusion
Cognitive training has been a subject of interest for elderly people due to it being a non-pharmacological intervention. It has been studied to be effective in healthy and abnormal aging adults. The versatility of its usage has allowed the cognitive training market to grow. Clients can now receive positive cognitive therapy in groups, individually or remotely depending on a client’s needs. Cognitive training aims to help elderly adults practice cognitive skills as well as develop strategies to overcome everyday problems. Combined with other healthy habits. Because of its proven benefits, activity directors and nursing home staff should implement a cognitive training program into their facilities.
