Keeping reading present in the lives of seniors

There comes a time when it feels like the person experiencing a loss of autonomy no longer wants to do anything. You suggest activities, and nothing seems to please them. We will return to the possible reasons for this state in a future article. If there is one activity that works very well, it's reading.

While reading alone can become arduous and boring, reading together becomes much more appealing. Following extensive research conducted with seniors, reading books for people with memory problems have been developed. The important thing is that the person reading and the person following each have their own copy of the book in their hands. A person with cognitive deficits can quickly disengage from an activity, but when you make it an event, it's very different. We suggest a series of books on topics well-known to seniors, ranging from La Bolduc and Maurice Richard to the theme of the sugar shack. These books contain simple stories in which you have to answer questions, sing familiar tunes, and simply discuss. Each person takes turns reading a page to remain engaged in either reading or following along.

Do you think your loved one can no longer read? You are probably mistaken. Reading is part of procedural memory (habit memory), and even with cognitive deficits, one can read for a very long time. We must be careful not to attribute intentions to our loved one. They can sometimes surprise us!