For seniors, keeping an active mind plays a large role in preventing the onset of dementia. This doesn’t mean that senior caregivers need to pose rigorous challenges to their senior clients on a frequent basis, though. Exercise for the mind can be the equivalent of walking on a treadmill for physical exercise; slow, but still going through the full motions to use the muscles. The Left vs Right app gives senior caregivers a tool to use with their senior clients to exercise their minds.
When users first download the app, it takes them through a series of categories with questions to determine what the user would like to improve upon the most. The six categories covered in the app are awareness, precision, reasoning, patience, adaptability and reflex. The questions in each offer senior clients the ability to improve upon situations from their own lives, such as consistently remembering people and places that they meet and see.
The app then recommends games for the user based on their specific choices during set-up. Before launching into the game, the app takes users through the instructions to ensure they understand the rules. It sets up a basic scenario and provides enough detail along with visuals for users to fully comprehend what they need to do before the game begins.
One of the games for precision requires users to tap smiley faces in the order of their proximity to an “exit.” As the game continues, the level of difficulty increases slightly. Another game in the adaptability category requires users to match series of tiles together based on the text color or the words written within the tiles.
Senior caregivers can encourage their clients to use the app multiple times per week to improve their scores and abilities over time. Free accounts will get three new games on a daily basis, which are determined by their answers to the initial questions in the app. If senior caregivers find that their clients greatly enjoy the app and would like to play more, there is a VIP membership option which allows users full access to the games within the app. The app provides a free trial for this level of memberships, so senior clients can try it at no cost to see if they like it.
For senior clients, speed may not be the most important factor in completing the activities. Instead, remind them to focus on completing the goal of each game as it appears to improve their abilities. Simply the act of engaging with the game provides the exercise for the brain that can help prevent dementia.
The Left vs Right: A brain training game app is available for Apple and Android platforms.
Senior caregivers, let us know your feedback on this app and keep us posted if you discover additional apps that assist with caregiving duties and help relieve caregiver stress. You may also refer-a-friend to a senior caregiving job and win prizes weekly and monthly on Caregiverlist.
