I’ve been reading some articles of late that have me thinking about the changes afoot in the field of aging.
One was in AARP’s magazine on “Boost your Brain Health”, which features the new video games designed to challenge your mind in the hopes of reducing age-related memory loss. This is good – it’s like getting bifocals for the brain – a natural, preventative coping method that can improve our functioning as we age. But…I see these games like workout gyms, and I find workout gyms totally depressing – with their rows and rows of equipment where people plug into their i-pods and zone out with 50 people surrounding them, all plugged in and going back and forth on their machines in an oddly orchestrated yet totally disconnected rhythm.
I also saw an article about a program in England that has developed touch screen technology to help people with dementia do reminiscence, and also another program to help link them to the moment. They show a person working with them – which is good. But my fear is that this is another device to hook someone up to.
Do we really need a touch screen? Do we really need the computer games that have us find number patterns? To me, what works is engagement. Creative, in the moment engagement that looks past loss and develops/connects with remaining skills. We are developing a new website for TimeSlips to enable caregivers and people with memory loss to tell stories together and use technology to share in the process with relatives/friends/e-pals who are far away. It’s meaningful, creative engagement that is shared in person and electronically. It’s a tool to prompt in-person relationships and create a “web” of support around people with memory loss.
It’s fantastic to have inventive people addressing the needs of our aging population. MORE! We need More of them! But we should question the core concepts of every intervention. What is its attitude toward people with dementia? What is it replacing? What is it designed to do and why? We’ll only move forward if we continue to promote relationships with people with dementia, and assume their ability to grow/express themselves. We’ll only use brain boosters if they are meaningful – not medicinal.
