Creative, social hobbies in a supportive Roanoke senior lifestyle can replace sedentary screen time, strengthen mood, and help slow age-related memory and cognitive decline.
In senior assisted living in Roanoke, VA, many seniors are unsure how they should spend their abundance of leisure time, and sadly, many end up living a sedentary lifestyle of passive media consumption. Living such a life isn’t just a waste of retirement; it’s harmful to senior mental health.
Cognitive decline is an inevitable part of aging, but by engaging with enrichment through creativity and memory support activities as part of a supportive Roanoke senior lifestyle, seniors can slow the rate of cognitive decline and stay mentally sharp and focused.
How Creative Activities Can Form Brain-Friendly Routines
According to the National Institute on Aging, taking part in creative arts like being in a choir or working on a theatre production can facilitate noticeable improvement in senior memory and cognitive function.
Such pursuits provide plenty of social connections and give seniors a sense of pride and accomplishment. In addition to giving seniors something satisfying to work towards, these hobbies can also improve their mental health.
According to Quinn et al. in Nature Mental Health, group arts can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
They can also help with memory. Forgetfulness and difficulty learning new things are fairly common in seniors. While the brain certainly slows down with age, the rate of decline often depends on lifestyle factors.
Why Thinking Gets Harder With Age
Here are a few of the reasons why memory and other forms of cognition get slower as we age:
- The neural pathways of the brain are less active, making it take longer to retrieve the information we need to think.
- The brain’s working memory capabilities decrease, making it harder to hold onto different strands of thought and bring them together.
- Short-term memory is significantly degraded, meaning seniors easily forget new names or instructions they’ve just heard.
Those who live in an enriching environment with plenty of opportunities for social and cognitive engagement are often mentally sharper than their peers who live an isolated, sedentary lifestyle. In fact, according to Harvard Health, those who engage in such hobbies tend to develop Alzheimer’s symptoms more slowly than those who don’t.
Now, let’s take a look at how specific hobbies in senior assisted living in Roanoke can boost cognitive capabilities and mood.
The Benefits of Visual Art for Seniors
While in adult life, visual art forms like painting and sculpting are the domain of art students and creative types, in retirement, it’s a different story.
Learning different brushstrokes or sculpting techniques takes time and patience, and when you’re a busy adult, that takes commitment. But, in retirement, your life is full of leisure time, making it the perfect time to put in the hours to learn a new skill.
The great thing about visual art forms is that they’re versatile and accessible; all you need to really get started is a pencil and paper. But seniors in senior assisted living in Roanoke also get plenty of chances to take part in creative workshops, where they’ll learn to put artistic skills into practice.
Cognitive Benefits of Playing Music
Of course, visual art is just one strand of creativity. Those who are more musically minded might spend retirement learning to play an instrument.
According to Michigan Medicine, music has many health benefits for older adults. When you hear a catchy melody or a groovy rhythm from decades gone by, it can bring you back to a significant moment in your past.
Learning an instrument like the guitar or piano, and learning to play those chords and melodies for yourself, can have additional benefits. Figuring out chords to songs and learning to piece them together to create songs promotes strong working memory, and mastering musical scales to improvise solos and riffs helps to keep senior minds flexible.
Creating music can also be a joyful, social experience. Seniors in senior assisted living in Roanoke might get together and form a band. Those who don’t want to commit to hours of practice can also get similar benefits from joining a choir or acapella group.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Are Creative Activities So Important for Brain Health?
As the brain ages, the neural pathways between the different brain regions slow down, and the signals become weaker. Areas of the brain, like the hippocampus, which is responsible for things like memory, also shrink and reduce in function.
Engaging in creative activities wakes up the brain and encourages its circuits to stay active. The more active your brain is, the more neuroplasticity it becomes, meaning it has a greater capacity to form new connections.
How Do Senior Communities Help With Creative Aging?
Senior living communities encourage cooperative wellness in seniors in a variety of ways. For example, they have accessible workshops teaching creative skills like painting or music happening within the community, minutes from residents’ accommodations. They have exercise classes to help seniors stay physically active, which can also promote cognitive wellness.
They encourage daily social interaction, socializing, and reducing feelings of isolation, which can also harm mental sharpness. They keep an eye out for any signs of cognitive decline so that seniors displaying possible symptoms of dementia see a doctor as soon as possible.
Senior Assisted Living in Roanoke: Holistic Wellness for Seniors
Here at The Park Oak Grove, we understand that mental focus in seniors is a key part of living a rich and fulfilling life and having an enjoyable retirement. We realize that it takes a holistic approach to ensure mental clarity throughout retirement.
Through our Dimensions Health and Wellness Program, we promote holistic health that focuses on physical, emotional, intellectual, and even spiritual wellness. Dedicated team members are always on hand to assist residents with any of their wellness needs, resulting in top-quality senior assisted living in Roanoke.
If you’d like to see our Dimensions program in action, as well as our other engaging amenities and events, please don’t hesitate to contact our team to set up a tour of our community. We look forward to hearing from you.
