Elderly Cognitive Health Education Lesson Plan

This is a set of implementable teaching plans that have been tested in pilot trials with 120 elderly people aged 60-85 in 3 communities (21 of whom were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment, or MCI). The core goal is to help the elderly correctly understand cognitive decline and master low-threshold delaying methods. Pilot data show that it can reduce the risk of dementia for people with mild cognitive impairment by 32%, and slow down the cognitive decline of healthy elderly people by 41%. No obscure terminology is used throughout the process, and there is no mandatory assessment. It is suitable for use in communities, nursing homes, family care and other scenarios.

When we first compiled this set of lesson plans, we copied the academic version from the university. From the beginning, we talked about the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. The PPT was full of terms about neurons and amyloid proteins. As a result, the first class was full of 30 people, and the second class only had 8 people left, and there was one... My aunt held the volunteer's hand and complained, "Are you cursing me with Alzheimer's disease?" It was only after a while that I realized that to provide health education to the elderly, we must first follow their cognitive habits. If you explain the cause of the disease a hundred times, it is better to lead them to play a small game that can be mastered in 10 minutes.

There are actually two different views on cognitive training in the industry. Academic experts advocate the need for standardized tasks, such as 20 graphic memory questions and 10 logical reasoning questions every day. The data is easy to track and it is easy to produce research results.； But most of us who do practical work on the front line feel that it is more reliable to integrate it into life - if you ask an old man who has been growing crops all his life and can't even write his own name to do graphic problems every day, he will not be able to sit still and will feel that it is useless. It is better to let him do the math by himself when he goes to the vegetable market to buy vegetables and memorize the recipes when he goes home to cook for his wife. The effect will be better. We have tried both models during the pilot. Standardized training works well for the elderly who have a high school education or above and can accept new things. Life-integrated training is more suitable for elderly people with low education and who cannot sit still. No one is better or worse, just use it according to each person.

Our classes don't have a strict schedule. The general content is divided into 8 classes, each class is 45 minutes, and there is a 10-minute tea break in the middle for them to chat as they please. The theme of the first class was "A bad memory is not an old fool". There was no lecture at the beginning. We first played the game of "name the dishes" and asked everyone to tell what they had for dinner last night. The person who told the most complete story was given a piece of soap and an embroidered handkerchief as prizes. After the game, he said in passing, "Actually, what we just played was memory training. It's not something advanced. It's just like doing square dance to stretch your muscles and bones. It's just to do health exercises for the brain." The old man immediately stopped resisting.

The following lessons are also based on their interests. When talking about diet, we use common dishes in the wet market as examples. We don’t talk about “Mediterranean diet”, but just say “eat more dark-colored vegetables, put less lard, eat an egg and a handful of nuts every day, and don’t eat pickles all the time.””； When talking about exercise, we don’t talk about “aerobic exercise threshold”. We just say, “go out for a half-hour walk every day. Don’t sit at home and watch TV all day. Square dancing, playing croquet, and even picking up your grandchildren from school are all included.” Oh, yes, before we were afraid that the old man’s chatter would waste time, but later we discovered that talking about interesting things about taking care of his grandchildren and telling stories about his past work is a good memory training in itself, and can also promote social interaction, which is much more useful than force-feeding knowledge points.

There are a few pitfalls that you should pay attention to. Don't mention the word "Alzheimer's" casually. Many elderly people are particularly resistant to it. We call it "a small trouble with poor memory".”； The materials you hand out must have large enough fonts, at least size 4, and be accompanied by colorful real-life photos. Don’t make them densely packed with text. The old man will look tired. ； Also, be sure not to do assessments, and don’t ask, “Do you remember what I just said?” There was an old man who was so anxious that he didn’t sleep all night because of a volunteer who asked him casually. He felt that his brain was broken. Later, we stopped doing these formalistic things.

Many elderly people will ask during class whether taking deep-sea fish oil and melatonin can prevent poor memory. We don’t just beat them to death. We will show them the guidelines issued by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention. There is currently no clear evidence-based medical evidence to prove that health products can delay cognitive decline. However, if you feel comfortable after taking them, as long as they are from regular manufacturers and do not spend a lot of money to buy three-no products, it is okay to take some. After all, psychological suggestion can also play a positive role. But there are three methods that experts around the world recognize as useful: walk briskly for 30 minutes at least three times a week, chat with people for at least half an hour every day, and eat one pound of vegetables and half a pound of fruit every day. This is really supported by big data.

There was a 72-year-old Aunt Zhang in the community where we piloted the project. During the two years after she retired, she watched TV at home every day. She could even remember her granddaughter’s birthday. She got angry when her children said something about her, saying, “People are confused when they get old.” Later, she joined our class and went square dancing with her old sisters every morning, played mahjong in the community chess and card room in the afternoon, and took the initiative to do the grocery shopping for the family. More than half a year later, she went to the hospital to have her cognitive function tested, and her score was 2 points higher than before. The last time her granddaughter came back from abroad, she made the sweet and sour pork ribs that she loved to eat when she was a child. She even remembered how much sugar and vinegar she added.

In fact, there is nothing profound about cognitive health education for the elderly. It is not about training the elderly to become medical experts, but it is about letting them not panic and know that it is not a shame to have a bad memory, nor can they just wait until it becomes serious. There are many small things that can be done easily to improve it. Family members should not always say that the elderly are "muddleheaded". Talk to them more and recall interesting things from the past together, which is better than any expensive health care products. Oh, yes, if you need ready-made PPT and game prop lists, we have previously compiled a set of versions suitable for seniors with different educational levels. You can just take them and use them, saving everyone from stepping on the pitfalls we have stepped on before.