What does cognitive health education for the elderly include?

I have been doing cognitive intervention work for the elderly in the community for almost 6 years. To be honest, the content of cognitive health education for the elderly is complex and complicated. Although it is simple, the core is centered around the three directions of "slow decline, early identification, and care". There are not so many fancy concepts.

What is closest to the daily life of the elderly is the popular science on daily maintenance of cognitive function. We never talk to the elderly about unintelligible terms such as neurotransmitters and brain atrophy. We always use examples around them to explain things. For example, Uncle Wang in the previous community sat at home and watched short videos for four or five hours every day. Over the past six months, he forgot things more and more frequently. We told the elderly that they should do more "brain-intensive activities". "Little things." When buying groceries, take the initiative to calculate the groceries by mouth instead of paying directly with your mobile phone. Hum the lyrics and memorize the tunes of opera singers when you have nothing to do. Even learning a few new square dance steps is better than sitting still. I will also specifically mention those habits that are recognized to be brain-damaging, such as sitting for more than 3 hours in a row, eating high-salt pickled products for a long time, staying up late to watch dramas, etc. These are habits shared by many elderly people who have experienced rapid cognitive decline during our follow-up visits. By the way, there are different opinions in the industry now. Some studies say that deliberately doing puzzles such as Sudoku and puzzles is more effective. There are also clinical data that say that life-oriented brain training methods have higher compliance and are more effective in the long run. We usually tell everyone about both methods and let the elderly choose what they are willing to do without forcing it.

It is not enough to know how to raise children. The most common pitfall for many families is to regard early signs of cognitive impairment as "foolish". Therefore, the popularization of early abnormality identification is also the focus of every lecture we give. I have met several family members before. The elderly people have repeatedly forgotten to turn off the gas, cannot remember the way home, and cannot call out the names of familiar juniors. I also feel that people are like this when they get older. They wait until they have hallucinations and a drastic change in temper before they are sent to the hospital. They have reached the stage of moderate cognitive impairment, and the effect of intervention is more than a little worse. There is still controversy on this topic. Some experts believe that as long as it does not affect normal life, there is no need to be overly anxious. It is difficult to completely distinguish between normal aging forgetfulness and pathological forgetfulness. Some clinicians suggest that as long as there are more than three unannounced short-term memory losses within six months, it is best to go to a community health service center for a free cognitive screening. We will make both views clear, so that the elderly and their families can make their own decisions. Don't take it seriously or panic too much.

Many people think that cognitive health education is only for the elderly. In fact, every time we start a class, we deliberately reserve half of the seats for the younger generations or caregivers in the family. The popularization of science related to care is also a very important part. If an elderly person at home really has cognitive impairment, the caregiver must know how to communicate with him so as not to irritate him. For example, don't always accuse him of "why did you forget again?" If he can't remember something from the past, don't force him to think about it. Just follow what you say. Don't help him with all the work and let him do it by himself. Clothes, setting dishes, watering flowers, these small things can help him maintain his current living ability as much as possible. To use an inappropriate metaphor, cognitive decline is like a slowly leaking bucket. Don't wait for the bucket to break a big hole before repairing it. Usually, plug the small cracks. Be careful when using it, and it will last much longer.

We have been doing science popularization for so long, and the biggest feeling is that these contents do not need to be too high-end. The most important thing is that the elderly understand and are willing to do it. There was an aunt who went back after the class and took her husband to calculate the grocery bills every day. She also signed up for a community calligraphy class. After half a year, I checked the cognitive scale and found that the score was two points higher than before. It is much more effective than eating a lot of health products that are said to be "brain supplements".