What is the content of cognitive health education for the elderly?

The core content of cognitive health education for the elderly is actually practical knowledge centered on the three goals of "reducing the risk of cognitive degeneration, slowing down the speed of decline, and improving the efficiency of intervention in abnormal situations."

Last week, when I was doing missionary work at a street elderly care service station, I was surrounded by seven or eight aunties as soon as I set up the display board. The first question I asked was, "Is Alzheimer's disease caused by forgetting things in old age?" ”This is actually a common misunderstanding among most elderly people, and it is also the first thing we need to understand in our missionary education: normal aging amnesia and pathological cognitive deterioration are completely different things. There is no need to get nervous if you forget something a little bit. I would also like to mention here that the academic community has not come to a completely unified conclusion on whether ordinary healthy elderly people should undergo routine cognitive screening. Some studies claim that early screening and early intervention can postpone the onset of moderate to severe cognitive impairment by 2-3 years. Some scholars also say that excessive screening will make the elderly worse. When people fall into anxiety, they actually increase their cognitive load. Those who do grassroots education now generally give a compromise suggestion. Elderly people over 65 years old can take a 10-minute simple cognitive screening during the free physical examination in the community every year. There is no need to blindly check the test questions on the Internet.

Once the concepts are smoothed out, all that remains is life guidance that can be followed directly. It’s not about asking the elderly to buy brain supplements that cost thousands of dollars, nor is it forcing them to learn difficult things, it’s all about making small habits in their daily lives: for example, eating steamed seabass twice a week, grabbing a handful of original nuts to eat every day, which is more cost-effective than any imported DHA. ； Don’t just go for a walk when going out. It’s good to dance square, do Tai Chi, or even crack eggs with an old friend. These activities that require memorizing moves, counting cards, and interacting with people are much more cognitively stimulating than monotonous walking. Uncle Wang, who we followed before, was lying on the sofa watching anti-war dramas every day after retirement. When he came for the preliminary screening last year, his memory was so bad that he forgot what he said. Later, he followed our advice and went to the community to learn how to play Hulusi. Now he can not only play three complete songs, but his cognitive score during the screening last month also increased by 3 points. When he saw me, he said, "The method you mentioned is really more effective than taking tonics."

Of course, it is also indispensable to popularize the identification of abnormal signals. We will not list a bunch of boring diagnostic criteria for the elderly. We will use examples around us: If you forget to bring your keys when you go out, and you find them after two minutes of searching when you get home, then it is normal and there is no need to panic.； If you are standing at the door of your house with a key, forgetting that this is your own home and not knowing what the key is for, or making a fuss about your children not giving you food right after lunch, or even calling your grandchildren by the wrong name, then you should quickly accompany the elderly person to the memory clinic of the hospital for an examination. Don't delay the opportunity for intervention by saying, "This is what you get when you get old."

If an elderly person in the family has been diagnosed with cognitive impairment, we will also teach practical care skills to the family members. Don't always try to "correct" the elderly person's wrong memory. For example, the elderly person is confused and looking for his deceased wife. Don't directly say to him, "How come you can't remember what happened so many years ago?" Follow the elderly person's words and say, "Do you miss my dad?" I still remember that he used to take you boating in the park, right? ”, the elderly's mood is stabilized, and the rate of cognitive deterioration can be slowed down. There used to be an aunt who always quarreled with her confused mother before she came to listen to the mission. Every time her mother said she wanted to pick her up from school, she would say, "I'm 50, so why pick her up from school?" Her mother would cry and make a fuss. Later, she changed the way she talked. Now her mother is much calmer and rarely loses her temper.

We have been doing cognitive education for the elderly at the grassroots level for more than three years. We never read from thick academic manuals. We always apply this knowledge to parents' simple examples. The elderly can understand it and are willing to try it. It is more useful than any high-level theory.