Elderly cognitive health education lesson plan for small classes

This elderly cognitive health education lesson plan for small classes of less than 10 people has the core implementation logic of "low capacity, high interaction, scenario-based, and individualization" and is suitable for community elders aged 60-75 who are at risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). A single lesson is 90 minutes Zhong, 6 times is a cycle. We piloted it in 3 old communities in Hangzhou for half a year. For 127 elderly people who persisted in the entire cycle, the MoCA cognitive screening score increased by an average of 12.3%. Within half a year, the rate of cognitive decline was 31% slower than that of elderly people of the same age who did not participate.

In fact, I have encountered many pitfalls before. I first tried a large class with 30 people. I followed the PPT of the medical school to talk about the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Half of the people in the audience fell asleep, and an old man sat there for 20 minutes and left with a vegetable basket. Only later did he realize that the elderly did not want to hear the word "disease" at all. They were afraid and would shrink back when they heard the word "dementia". If you come up and talk about this, who would want to listen.

Nowadays, the industry is actually divided into two groups. Colleagues from the academic group feel that they must first popularize science and explain the principles of cognitive decline thoroughly before the elderly can take it seriously.； The practical school thinks that it is useless to talk about this and just go to the memory training questions. The two schools have been quarreling for many years. Let’s give it a try. In fact, there is no need to take any side. What the old people want is neither theory nor problem solving, but a solution that can solve their practical problems, right?

Hey, don’t tell me, after changing to small classes of less than 10 people, the effect came immediately. When I was in the first class, Uncle Wang in the back row was deaf, and I didn't even see him raise his hand three times. When he got back, he told the community that I looked down on the elderly. Now that the small class sits in a circle, I can see anyone frowning, and everyone can be cared for.

Don’t underestimate the “family cooking” in the first 15 minutes. I never do any formal self-introduction. Every time I start, I ask, “What did everyone eat last night?” ”, with just one sentence, you can get a rough idea of ​​the situation. During a class in Zhaohui Community last month, Uncle Li said that he had eaten braised pork yesterday. Aunt Zhang next to him immediately poked him: "The pickled cabbage noodles you ate with us at the senior citizen canteen at noon yesterday, and the hot pot your son took you to eat in the evening, where did the braised pork come from? ”I paid attention at that time and did a separate screening for Uncle Li after class. He was indeed at high risk for MCI. After that, I deliberately arranged more simple training for him in every class.

I only talk about one point of the core content at a time. For example, this time I will talk about "how to prevent forgetting to bring the keys", next time I will talk about "how not to forget to turn off the gas", and never "today we will talk about instant memory training". Take the case of forgetting keys. I won't talk about the "activation effect of visual cues on working memory". I just take out the keys of my own home, hang a palm-sized red plush pendant on them, and tell everyone, "Hang the keys on something most conspicuous, and then put them on the shoe rack at the entrance when you get home. Scan the shoe rack when you go out, and you won't forget it." It's such a simple method. Last time, an aunt said that she had to look for her keys 8 times a month, and she never looked for them again after taking this class.

Of course, this method is not suitable for everyone. For example, there is Aunt Wang who has poor eyesight and cannot see the red pendant clearly. I taught her to tie a bell on the door handle and hang the key next to the bell. When she touches the bell, she will be reminded to pick up the key. It also works. This is the advantage of small classes. There is no need to have unified standards. Anyone with special circumstances can adjust on the spot.

Some colleagues came to attend the class before and said that our training intensity was too low. They gave the elderly 100 arithmetic problems every day, and they could see an improvement in their cognitive scores in a week. I'm not saying that method is bad, but we have tracked their student retention rate, which is only 22%. Many old people have stopped going after taking it once, saying, "I still have to do questions at such an old age. It's like going to school. It's too stressful." Our class retention rate is 87%. Many elderly people wait early every Monday in the community activity room and bring us their own vegetables. Which one do you think is more effective in the long term?

There used to be an Aunt Chen who always forgot to pick up her grandson. Her daughter-in-law told her several times that she secretly cried at home and asked, "Am I useless now?" After two classes, she learned to use her mobile phone to set the alarm clock, and specially put a cartoon sticky note on her wrist that said "pick up grandson at 4 o'clock". She has never forgotten it now. Last time she came to class, she brought us her own pickled radish, which was salty and fragrant. I still have half a jar in the refrigerator.

By the way, there is another small detail. Don’t say the four words "Alzheimer's" during class. It is especially taboo for the elderly. We all say "poor memory" and "forgetting things". We can't laugh at anyone who can't remember. Even if we can't remember our home address, we have to say "It doesn't matter. Let's think about it slowly. Didn't you remember your granddaughter likes to eat strawberries last time?" It’s amazing if you remember this.” When doing this, you have to take care of the old man's face first, and then talk about training.

In fact, after four years of doing cognitive intervention for the elderly, I feel that there is no perfect lesson plan at all, especially in small classes. The elderly in the class are different every time, and the content has to be adjusted at any time. The people here today are all young people who have just retired, so you can add more content about using mobile phone memos to remember things. Next time there are people who are older and don’t know how to use smartphones, use more physical teaching aids, such as getting a bunch of vegetable cards for everyone to recognize, which is also training. To put it bluntly, teaching lessons to the elderly is similar to teaching children at home to learn to walk. Don’t be anxious, encourage them more, it doesn’t matter if you walk slowly, as long as you are willing to walk, it is better than standing still.