Play therapy helps older adults with dementia improve their cognitive skills. In the build-up to World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21, Thornhill Manor Retirement Village donated hand-made games to Thembalami Care Centre.
Both the retirement village and the care centre are run by NPO Rand Aid Association. Thornhill Manor resident Vicky Keenan, who is a qualified occupational therapist and a skilled DIYer, made the games, which are designed to enhance memory and motor skills. The games – ‘Feed the Clown’ and ‘dart’ board – were gratefully received by Thembalami’s occupational therapist, Tsakani Shihlomule.
“Playing games and engaging in fun activities is a form of therapy as well as an effective way of exercising the brain,” says Thornhill Manor social worker Karen Griessel. “The interaction achieved by playing games with friends strengthens a person’s sense of belonging, thus reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.”
Paint in a specially mixed therapeutic colour was donated and will be used to freshen the activity room.
“We also donated three portable CD players and two boxes of CDs with classical music and golden oldies. Music therapy is used to soothe or stimulate people with advanced dementia,” says Karen.
Musical perception, emotion, and memory can survive long after other forms of memory and cognitive function have disappeared.
Vicky Keenan, a resident of Thornhill Manor and qualified occupational therapist, with her homemade banner.
Karen Griessel (Thornhill Manor social worker), Elize Raath (deputy manager of Thembalami), Tsakani Shihlomule (Thembalami occupational therapist), Esme van der Walt (Thembalami manager), and Vicky Keenan (Thornhill Manor resident and a qualified occupational therapist).
Tsakani Shihlomule, Thembalami occupational therapist, and Vicky Keenan, a resident of Thornhill Manor and qualified occupational therapist, with one of the games Vicky made.
