Winter Village Encourages Mental Agility Through Exploration and Play

Winter Village and other senior living communities in Frankenmuth, MI, like it, encourage mental agility by combining low-stakes play that keeps your attention, flexibility, and memory active with regular, easy-to-acquire new experiences like new classes, tech practice, and different routines.

Residents can enhance their confidence and become more functional in their daily lives by practicing executive-function skills such as inhibition, working memory, switching, and planning in a secure social environment.

Staying physically active to ensure bodily wellness is key for seniors, but seniors in Frankenmuth, MI, shouldn't underestimate the costs of a lack of mental engagement.

Senior enrichment activities can promote well-being and have demonstrated promise for outcomes like memory and reduced stress, according to the National Institute on Aging.

That's why senior living institutions like the Winter Village offer varied senior enrichment programs. Having mentally healthy hobbies to ensure brain wellness is critical for senior wellness.

Aging and Discovery: New Experiences in Senior Living

For many seniors, old age is a time of stagnation and lack of direction. Without work with a clear career track to guide people forward, many seniors in retirement feel their life lacks purpose. Seniors with such a mindset might experience accelerated cognitive aging and low mood.

Aging can bring about changes like:

• Slower word finding
• Difficulty multitasking
• Reduced memory

But thankfully, according to Harvard Health, this cognitive decline isn't a one way decent. By trying out new things and practicing them in a low-stakes but challenging environment, seniors can often improve their cognitive functioning.

In a well-run senior living community, the exploration options available should be:

• Frequency: There should always be options available on the calendar that repeat weekly, monthly, or bi-monthly.
• Optional: Residents need to be able to try things out without feeling pressure or judgment
• Social: Senior living residents should be able to try new things alongside supportive peers.
• Accessible: These activities need to account for those with mobility problems, hearing, or vision loss, or fatigue.

Exploring new things, like taking a class, learning how to use technology, or taking a different walking loop, helps seniors practice flexible thinking and focus their attention appropriately. Seniors who've improved these skills here in Winter Village can stay independent for longer.

The Importance of Play

Play isn't just something for entertaining children. For older adults, "play" can refer to a form of rehearsal; it's about trying new things in a safe setting with low consequences. Enriching activities for seniors should include:

• Practice making choices
• Figuring out rules
• Experiencing different reactions

Seniors might play a board game with a group of their peers, or the more adventurous might try out a video game. More active options include things like scavenger hunts and escape rooms.

Whether they're playing alone or as part of a group, games can help seniors boost executive functioning. According to the APA, executive functioning refers to the part of the brain that deals with converting thoughts and intentions into actions.

Here's how games can improve the executive functioning system and help seniors become more functional:

• Inhibition: Not blurting things out, waiting your turn, and reigning in impulsiveness is a key part of executive functioning
• Working memory: Remembering rules and strategies can improve working memory, which is the brain's ability to hold things in mind.
• Switching: Some games require players to adapt their strategy, improving the brain's capacity for adapting to new information
• Planning: Many games require thinking a few steps ahead or managing limited resources, which is also a key aspect of executive function.

Emotional Safety

The key advantage of this kind of play is that it's emotionally safe to participate. In more high-stakes situations, like during a medical emergency or when a senior is lost in an unfamiliar place, these executive functioning skills are crucial.

But when playing board games or figuring out an escape room, it's all in good fun. Losing at a game might result in some playful teasing from friends, but the chance for long-term emotional fallout is low.

It's all about having a good time, and no one takes it too seriously.

Mistakes are allowed, and they're great learning opportunities. When an emergency situation does come around, seniors are ready to put the skills they've learned into practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Does Social Connection Help Seniors Participate?

Incorporating a social component into activities significantly increases the likelihood that residents will participate, as the opportunity for connection serves as a powerful driver for engagement. It's much easier to stay motivated when you're part of a strong social network with peers who encourage you to participate.

For example, if you have a weekly board game night, you'll likely feel like you're letting people down or missing out if you skip a week or two.

What are the Key Signs These Activities are Working?

It's not necessary to take tests like you're back in school to see progress after exploration and play. Useful signals seniors and their caregivers can look out for include:

• Try New Mindset: Increased openness to trying new things.
• Resilient Recovery: Faster recovery after mistakes.
• Social Spark: More spontaneous interactions with other people.
• Flexible Routines: Increased ability to adapt to minor routine adjustments.
• Active Initiative: More initiative, such as suggesting activities, instructing others, and participating in clubs.

As time progresses, these minor behavioral changes frequently indicate enhanced cognitive flexibility and confidence, as the resident is managing novelty and minor setbacks with less stress.

Day-to-day independence depends a lot on being willing to work hard and follow through, so even small gains are important.

Discover Winter Village

As you can see, exploration and play are a key part of improving senior wellness. These activities are particularly useful in boosting the executive functioning system in the brain, which is often impacted by aging.

Here at Winter Village, we're improving our Independent Living with Supportive Services community. The first thing we're doing is updating our apartments to make them more comfortable, stylish, and convenient for today's active seniors. If you're interested in seeing this for yourself, contact us today, and let's schedule a tour.