Strokes can cause sensory, motor, and cognitive impairment in older adults. If untreated, these issues could impact the ability to think, talk, walk, and carry out various daily activities. However, taking up cognitive exercises like those mentioned below can boost your senior loved one’s health and speed up the recovery process.
Arts and Crafts
Painting, creating collages, coloring in adult coloring books, and completing fun crafts can decrease stress levels and restore many physical, communicative, and cognitive functions following a stroke. Arts and crafts are purposeful activities that exercise the brain, lower stress, and increase self-confidence. While working on art projects, your loved one is in control of his or her actions, which can help with managing many of the losses experienced due to the stroke.
Certain age-related conditions can make it more challenging for seniors to age in place safely and comfortably, but Philadelphia live-in care experts are available around the clock to help seniors manage their health. Whether your loved one is living with dementia or is recovering from a stroke, you can trust the professional live-in caregivers from Home Care Assistance to enhance his or her quality of life.
Gardening
Merely getting outdoors and smelling the fresh flowers could boost your loved one’s mood and strengthen his or her cognition following a stroke. Fresh air can stimulate a stroke survivor’s brain and increase functioning. If your loved one has mobility impairment on one side of the body due to the stroke, simplify the gardening activities, changing each task as his or her health increases. For example, your loved one can sit on the bench and watch you plant if he or she is too weak to lift the tools and work in the garden. You can keep your parent engaged by asking him or her to name each plant. Your loved one must use memory and sensory skills to identify the different plants.
A professional caregiver can be a wonderful source of information and support 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 Home Care Assistance, a trusted provider of Philadelphia 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.
Reading
Senior stroke survivors typically lose cognitive skills that impact vocabulary skills, which can increase the risk of loneliness and isolation. However, reading is a cognitive exercise that can boost mood, increase social skills, and enhance memory and vocabulary. After your loved one has read a few chapters, ask questions about the story to help him or her retain what he or she has learned. The exercise can also restore many of the cognitive functions lost after the stroke. Although it’s okay to choose from books your loved one has read throughout the years, purchasing new material may entice him or her to read each chapter and stay mentally engaged.
Puzzles
Doing puzzles increases focus and logic skills in senior stroke survivors. The puzzles can also solidify their memories. Simply attempting to solve the puzzles can stimulate neural pathways that went dormant after the stroke. If you notice your loved one becoming upset while doing these tasks, distract him or her with another less frustrating activity. If the puzzles are too challenging to complete, your loved one may become agitated and stressed, which is bad for stroke recovery. Choose simple puzzles and only move to more challenging activities as your loved one’s cognitive abilities increase.
Some of the best brain exercises for senior stroke survivors include:
- Sudoku
- Crossword puzzles
- Jigsaw puzzles
- Word searches
A professional caregiver can be an ideal puzzle-solving partner for a senior stroke survivor. Seniors can face a variety of challenges as they age, many of which can be mitigated with the help of professional in-home caregivers who provide high-quality homecare services. Trust Home Care Assistance to help your elderly loved one age in place safely and comfortably. Contact one of our experienced Care Managers today at (215) 645-4663 to learn more about our reliable in-home care services.