Board Game for the older adults: invigorate the brain and interpersonal interaction for senior citizen at adult day care centers

Board Game for the older adults: invigorate the brain and interpersonal interaction for senior citizen at adult day care centers

      Have you ever played board games? In recent years, board games have become popular in Taiwan. The "board games" refer to tabletop games, which often use cards, drawing boards, dice, chess pieces, chips and other props. The board game do not rely on electronic devices and Internet, allowing many people to interact on the same space on the table. These games include chess, poker, monopoly, checkers, and mahjong. As Taiwan is the aged society, it is important to prevent and delay the cognitive deterioration of the older adults and reduce the incidence of dementia through cognitive stimulation activities.

   This paper " Effect of board game activities on cognitive function improvement among older adults in adult day care centers ", Ching-Teng Yao, Associate Professor of School of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University, shares how to create an attractive board game program based on theories of gamification, social interaction, and social participation to promote active participation and brain development of the older adults.

“Design games that teach and promote brain activation”

      In the 12-week program, the board game program designed in three stages, with the first and second stages using games that can be easily played as an introduction, and the third stage adjusting the level of difficulty based on the observation of the participants. The board games are designed according to the concepts of gamification, senior learning, and cognitive function promotion, with attention to the psychological needs of seniors. The programs are designed from the perspective of abstraction, strategy, memory, response, and skill, to stimulate the willingness of day care center older adults to actively participate.

“Effect of board game activities on cognitive function and social participation improvement among older adults”

      This study found that older adults’ cognitive deterioration was reduced by playing board games, which had a beneficial effect on the promotion of cognitive function. The older adults of initiative, thinking, planning, and adaptability brought by the exposure to new things will further promote social interactions and enhance cognitive functions. In the future, table games can be incorporated into social work and care activities in the field of aging, which will help the long-term care field to develop into a more diverse, unique and innovative direction.

Main researcher: Associate Professor Ching-Teng Yao, Master Program of Long-Term Care in Aging, School of Nursing, Kaohsiung Medical University

Author Email: angusyao@kmu.edu.tw

Paper cited from:

Yao, C. T. (2019). Effect of board game activities on cognitive function improvement among older adults in adult day care centers. Social Work in Health Care, 58(9), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2019.1656143

Research Paper available online on website: 

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00981389.2019.1656143