Active Families Can Help Prevent Cognitive Decline

For quite some time, researchers have believed that when seniors are mentally and physically active, the development of dementia can be delayed or even prevented. 

 

Activity can come in a variety of different forms. While we often immediately think about physical exercise, more and more research is coming out that indicates that activity doesn’t need to be so formalized. In fact, research shows that acting in a caregiving capacity for family members can also have a positive impact on wellbeing.

 

New research indicates that grandparents that care for their grandchildren tend to see a similar effect as elderly individuals that stay mentally and physically active. The researchers found that seniors who had helped care for younger grandchildren saw higher scores on memory and verbal skills tests than individuals who didn’t provide this care. The test scores showed that it really didn’t matter what kind of care it was that they provided or how involved they were in it. Just being involved in this aspect of things provided seniors with an advantage over their peers when it came to their mental wellbeing as they aged.

 

 

To come to this conclusion, the team looked at more than 2,800 individuals, all grandparents that were providing some sort of caregiving capacity for younger family members. All of the participants were above the age of 50, with the mean age being 67. Both men and women were looked at. At least three cognitive assessments were given over the course of the study, which ranged from 2016 to 2022.  

 

As mentioned above, caregiving can take shape in a number of different ways in order to have a positive effect. Respondents were asked if they had cared for a grandchild at all in the past year in order to become eligible for this study. It included full-time care, but also things like having a grandkid over for an evening or spending a day caring for a sick child. The help that participants gave varied greatly.

 

This study was conducted by researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands. The research was sponsored and published by the American Psychological Association in the journal, Psychology and Aging. Hopefully, this new look at activity in seniors’ lives will lead to better care and prevention of age-related issues in the future.

 

Here at Paradise In-Home Care, we pride ourselves on interacting with the seniors that we care for in the way that will best benefit them. In-home care isn’t just about providing for the day to day needs of someone; it’s also about providing them with companionship and socialization. The right match between a caregiver and a client can mean a world of difference for their mental and physical health. 

 

If you’d like to learn more about how senior care can benefit your family, we’d love to talk more with you. We offer free consultation sessions that can help answer your specific questions, figure out what will be best for your family, and then get you pointed in the right direction.

 

Feel free to give us a call or send us an email to get the ball rolling.