Use It or Lose It

Use It or Lose It

Having a great day is a whole lot easier when you know how to pull it off, right? If you entered the giveaway last week, you got the email mini-course on engagement. (If you missed it, you can still sign up for the mini-course, even if you don’t want to enter the giveaway).

Keeping our loved ones engaged seems important, and it may intuitively feel right. But there’s more to it than that: the “use it or lose it” theory. That is, people need to keep using the abilities they have, or they end up losing them.

 

Keep Neural Pathways Strong

Think about it like going to the gym. Can you expect to see any benefits today from that one time you went in 1996? Not so much. On the other hand, if you go routinely, you know that you feel stronger, fitter, healthier, and just generally better.

The same principle is in play when it comes to dementia. We want to keep neural pathways as strong as possible for as long as possible. When people continue socializing, they need to speak and listen, as well as read facial expressions, body language, and social cues. We do those things without much thought, but for a person living with dementia, each are more challenging activities.

 

Cognitive Exercise

In this context, the word “challenging” often has a negative connotation; we think of it as more of an obstacle to overcome. It’s more accurate to think of it as “cognitive exercise” in this setting, though.

Playing board games or cards are other forms of cognitive exercise. By participating in these, fine motor skills get a workout while handling the pieces or cards. Players need to think about what they’re doing, or what they’ll do next, in relation to what others are doing. This type of socialization while also doing some other cognitive exercise put people in a position to use both concrete and abstract skills, to the best of their ability.

We aren’t aiming for perfection–ever–but we are aiming for staying in practice. We always want to facilitate a supportive environment, where our loved one feels encouraged to try.

 

The Other Huge Benefit

Beyond the socialization and cognitive exercise benefits, the other huge benefit is emotional. Being a carer often means you somehow wake up one day and realize your life has turned into a series of have-to’s. Have to get the pills dispensed. Have to help with toileting. Have to make food. Have to run a household. Have to wade into the bathing issue again. Add it all up, and it easily feels like drudgery.

None of us likes drudgery, and it negatively affects our mood when there’s no end in sight. This is why it’s so important to make time for fun. And usually, unless you make a conscious choice to do that, it doesn’t happen.

Typically, people who excel with goal-setting (and goal-achieving) and task execution aren’t the spontaneous let’s-have-fun-for-the-sake-of-fun types. Stepping back and looking at the big picture, though, your situation is this: you care for someone living with dementia. Hands-on assistance takes a lot of time and energy, yes. AND, this is a person you love! So make some good memories. Generate some good feelings. Have some fun! This “task” is just as important as all the others.

 

ICYMI

The email mini-course covers:

• Why people “just sit there like a bump on a log”
•  How to preserve dignity in social situations
• The “if it’s not a no, it’s a go” method
• Common coping mechanisms people living with dementia use (that we as care partners typically don’t like)
• 5 simple and easy tricks to help dramatically increase engagement
• 3 of my favorite tools that I use all the time
• 2 of my best tips
• A fun challenge that can turn everything around in your interactions
• And of course, cheerleading from me 😀

Sign up here.

 

Christy Turner is the founder of DementiaSherpa.com and has enjoyed the privilege of working with 1,123 people living with dementia and their families. Follow on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. Content varies across platforms.