A large number of stroke survivors develop memory issues that affect the recovery process and their daily lives. However, with high-quality care and stimulating activities such as brain games, your elderly parent can strengthen his or her memory after a stroke. Below you’ll find some fun memory-enhancing tasks and explanations of how each game is appropriate for a stroke survivor.
1. Trivia Board Games
There are endless topics you can turn into trivia questions for your loved one, including politics, famous people and places, and food. It’s best to play trivia games with more than two people to give your loved one the interaction he or she craves and a little friendly competition. Just like exercise can restore muscle strength in the body, trivia games exercise the mind and restore thinking skills and memories in stroke survivors.
A professional caregiver can be a wonderful game-playing partner for a senior recovering from a stroke. If your elderly loved one needs help maintaining a high quality of life while aging in place, reach out to Assisting Hands Home Care, a trusted provider of at-home care. Our caregivers provide transportation to and from medical appointments and social events, nutritious meal preparation, assistance with daily exercise, and help with everyday tasks like bathing, grooming, and light housekeeping.
2. Puzzles
Puzzles stimulate the mind and are great activities to boost memory after a stroke. Having to identify where to place the puzzle pieces provides the mental and visual activity your loved one needs. Your loved one’s mind will associate the pictures in the puzzle with actual people and objects in his or her life. Coming up with logical answers may be difficult for stroke survivors, but puzzles challenge them to think logically, create new solutions, and solidify their memories.
3. Video Games
A stroke impacts thinking abilities, but online game apps can help your loved one develop faster thinking skills. Playing video games also increases concentration levels and the brain’s processing abilities. There are a variety of game consoles suitable for older adults, and they can enjoy the activity while sitting in a chair or lying in bed. As your loved one regains physical strength, he or she can take on interactive video games that require more movement.
Certain age-related conditions can make it more challenging for seniors to age in place safely and comfortably, but Fort Lauderdale live-in care experts are available around the clock to help seniors manage their health. Whether your loved one is living with dementia or recovering from a stroke, you can trust the professional caregivers from Assisting Hands Home Care to enhance his or her quality of life.
4. Music Games
Play some popular songs from the past and present to see if your loved one can associate the music with people. The songs will stimulate parts of the brain that have been affected by the stroke and trigger memories from the past. As the songs play, your parent’s brain wave activity and concentration may increase. Listening to music can also boost language skills, cognitive abilities, emotional wellbeing, and overall quality of life.
5. Word Games
Word games offer more than a vocabulary refresher. They can lead to greater attention spans and better spatial awareness. Crossword puzzles and word searches are some brain-stimulating word games for stroke survivors to enjoy. These games can help with verbal, visual, and informational memory loss, which are common after strokes. Some seniors also experience vascular dementia due to strokes. However, word games can help survivors increase their ability to follow instructions and boost their short-term memory.
If you have a senior loved one who needs help maintaining a high quality of life while aging in place, reach out to Assisting Hands Home Care, a leading provider of home care Fort Lauderdale families can trust. Our caregivers help seniors focus on healthy lifestyle habits such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, and maintaining strong social ties, and we offer mentally stimulating activities that can boost cognitive health and delay the onset of dementia. Call us today to talk to one of our compassionate Care Managers about our high-quality home care services.
