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Brain Health Awareness FairWhat’s Working WednesdaysOutline:What is a Brain Health Fair?It is similar to a Health Fair (envision lots of tables with vendors representing products/services)At a brain fair every station is set up to do with something about the brain.How I came up with the idea:Heard Dr. Cynthia Green speak at the International Conference on Active Aging on the importance of bringing better and more cognitive fitness programs into our communities. Dr. Green spoke about offering our residents a brain health fair.This is an opportunity to show the residents brain activities can be fun and you just don’t have to do crossword puzzles or sit through a structure course.A fair is an opportunity to partner with outside resources and highlight existing programs that we already offer that aren’t labeled brain healthy but really are.Things to consider when planning your brain health fair:Don’t try to do it all yourself. Draft several employees who are as dedicated as you are and who seek a challenge.We decided to do 3 days of brain awareness activities with one of the days being the fair.Don’t expect the residents to just show up. You need to promote as much as possible. (Weekly NewsFlash, Calendars, flyers in main locations, TV station, gave each resident a post card outlining the events)Decide when to have your fair. You can do it anytime but in November you can connect it to National Memory Screen day. In March there is a Brain Awareness Week. (March 14-20th 2016)Decide what your fair is going to look like:How many stations?-I had the space to accommodate 21 stations-You each know the type of space you have to work with.-Recommend you start smaller than each year add on. First time instead of doing a big fair maybe call it A day of Brain Fun with fewer stations.What are you going to have at each station to promote brain health? How are your stations going to be set up?-Each station varied depending on the task. Example: Conductorcise station the chairs were set up in a circle. Wheel of Fortune the chairs were set up in 2 rows.Dr. Green emphasized the importance of incorporating both active and passive stations.Active Station= residents are physically engaged in an activity.Passive Station=Example: A table with information for residents to pick up and read.Very important to keep a balance of active vs. passive stations. We alternated between the two. Helps with the flow and crowd control. Deciding what type of activity would be at each station:We’ve been hearing for quite some time the importance of incorporating the dimensions of wellness into our programming. Decided to incorporate the 8. (Emotional, Environmental, Health, Intellectual, Physical, Social, Spiritual and Vocational.)Also, when planning your Brain Health Fair keep in mind you will need to:Have 1-2 volunteer for each station. Passive stations may not need any volunteers.Recommend 1-2 people directing/keeping things moving. As people came in I directed them to start at a specific station for crowd control purposes and to keep volunteers busy.Challenge was to keep residents at the stations for 8-10 minutes. Most active stations took time to complete. You don’t want someone trying to jump in during the middle of the activity. Your volunteers:Make sure that they understand and can articulate why their station is brain healthy.I wrote up a sheet of directions explaining the purpose and demonstrated their activity. I met with each volunteer.We gave handouts from almost every station on how to incorporate this type of activity on their own. Make sure all supplies needed are at the stations.A few fun things we did:Purchased lots of word search/puzzle books and bundled as prizes. (Dollar Store)Had a VIP guest-Albert Einstein meet and greet. Shared with the residents his favorite quotes and gave them a stress ball shaped like a brain. (Purchased the costume)It’s a lot of work but some suggestions:Maybe start out small and not do as many stations as I did.Get a good team to work with who are equally as invested as you are.Be creative with your ideas for the stations.Make it fun and festive.A brief description of Examples of the Stations: 8 Dimensions of WellnessIntellectual Word Mining = (Active Station) -is when you take any word or phrase and form as many common words as possible with only the letters from the word or phrase. Fundrum My Conundrum = (Active Station)Partnered with the Notre Dame School of Pharmacy. Residents given the scenario that they just got back from the hospital and were prescribed 5 new medications and their task was to fill their pill box. (We had donated the nice big pill boxes and I purchased a big bag of beads that were used as the pills.) Creative Thinking Skills = (Active Station)Had a huge blank Crossword Puzzle and a volunteer read the clues.Poetry Corner = (Passive Station)We had several poems to read and the residents were asked to finish one of the poems with their own prose.7 Words of Wisdom = (Active Station)We made a tree out of branches and had cut out leaves. We asked the residents to write in exactly 7 words something they learned in life that they would want the next generation to remember. Ex: “Always look when you cross the street.” “To err is human to forgive divine” Jigsaw Puzzles Table = (Passive Station)We had a table with a 500 piece puzzle to be put together. They could stop and work on the puzzle. Encouraged to find at least 5 pieces. Emotional Humor = (Passive Station)For this station we have a huge screen and we had playing (without the volume on) the old I Love Lucy shows. We also had a table with various handouts on the positive effects of humor on the body and some good clean jokes. Physical & SocialConductorcise = (Active Station)We purchased some nice chop sticks from Oriental Trading for the Batons, had lively music and an energetic volunteer. They were able to keep the chop sticks. Health Brain Healthy Eating = (Passive Station)We extended this idea for actually the whole week. Our Director of Dining Services came up with the ingredient for a Brain Healthy Salad and offered it on the menu the entire week. On the day of the fair he had at his table info on Brain healthy eating, copies of brain healthy recipes and had samples of berries, nuts and dark chocolate. Speech Therapist = (Active Station) We had our home health & inpatient Speech therapists work with the residents on the IPad showing them how speech therapy works on cognition. Also shown programs like (Fit Brain, Luminosity)Hand Messages = (Active Station)We had a demonstration on how to do a hand message and the benefits of.Environmental Recycle = (Passive Station)For this station there was a large clip board and the residents could write their ideas on what they can do to Reduce, Reuse, & Recycle. VocationalVolunteerism = (Active Station)The residents used their creativity to design & make personalized Christmas cards which would be sent to our troops. So I had all of the supplies needed (blank card stock, embellishments, clip art, glue, stamp pads/stampers, makers, pens). The residents made the cards and wrote a sediment thanking the troops for doing what they do. When they completed their cards they were given info on the benefits of volunteering and how it is good for the brain.SocialWord Ball = (Active Station)This station required the residents to pay attention and think fast. Chairs were arranged in a circle. When the ball (which had about a dozen of questions on it) was tossed to a resident they had to answer the question where their right hand landed. The idea was to keep it moving as fast as possible. Wheel of Fortune = (Active Station)The answers were all events, classes or activities that happen at Mercy Ridge. After they solved the puzzle we read a short description of the activity and reminded the residents the date/time. Spiritual Religion is Brain Healthy = (Passive Station)Information & research on how religious activity reduces stress and is linked to better memory retention. Positive Thinking = (Passive Station)I had our counseling center provide a table and explanation on the art of positive thinking. We also had the following tables:Banner = (Passive Station)We also purchased a banner and the residents to write on it what they do to stay brain healthy. General Table of Brain Information –Games, handouts, word search puzzles…Below is an example of one of the stations:Handout for residents.Instructions for Volunteer.Activity handout for the residents.Word Mining Keeping intellectually challenged is good for the brain. One of the simplest methods to boost your brain function is to keep on learning. The size and structure of neurons and the connections between them actually change as you learn. This can take on many forms above and beyond book learning to include activities like traveling, learning to play a musical instrument, learning to speak a foreign language, or participating in social and community activities.Another important method is brain aerobics. As with learning, challenging your brain with mind-training exercises can keep your brain fit as you age. This can be something as simple as thinking of famous people whose first names begin with the letter A, doing crossword puzzles or playing board games that get you thinking. Research has even shown that surfing the Web activates regions in your brain related to decision-making and complex reasoning. So unlike passively watching TV, using the Internet is an engaging task that may actually help to improve your brainpower. Today’s exercise to enhance intellectual functioning:We will be doing what is called “Word Mining”. This is when you take any word and form as many common words as possible with only the letters from your chosen word. A letter may be used in a word only as many times as it appears. Example: if the title was BRAIN FAIR, your new word could contain up to 2 R’s and/or 2 A’s and/or 2 I’s but only one B, one I, one N and/or one F. So some of the words that you could create are:190502540rainairinbraI barfarfabnab4314825-47625Directions for Instructor: What is needed at this station:Easel, Large Paper, Markers, Tape, HandoutDirections for Instructors:When residents are gathered at your station read:Keeping intellectually challenged is good for the brain. One of the simplest methods to boost your brain function is to keep on learning. The size and structure of neurons and the connections between them actually change as you learn. As with learning, challenging your brain with mind-training exercises can keep your brain fit as you age.Today’s exercise to enhance intellectual functioning:We will be doing what is called “Word Mining”. This is when you take any word and form as many common words as possible with the letters from your chosen word. A letter may be used in a word only as many times as it appears. Example: if the title was BRAIN FAIR, your new word could contain up to 2 R’s and/or 2 A’s and/or 2 I’s but only one B, one I, one N and/or one F. So some of the words that you could create are: Rain Air Bar Fab In…The first word we will be “Word Mining” is Neuroscience and there are 422 words that can be made out of this word. (See attached list.) Ask participants to find & add onto the list all of the words that they can create.When they come up with a word write it down. Try not to repeat words. Encourage them to think and look hard. Don’t let them give up. It gets more challenging as the list gets longer.Since this is a visual station, encourage them to get close if needed. The second word mining word will be Thanksgiving 4848225-514350Crisp Autumn Days Taking all the letters in the phrase “Crisp Autumn Days” and form as many common words as possible with the letters. The letter may be used only as many times as it appears in the phrase. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5257800-304800Brain Health AwarenessTaking all the letters in the phrase “Brain Health Awareness” and form as many common words as possible with the letters. The letter may be used only as many times as it appears in the phrase. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________You can find information about National Memory Screen Day @Alzheimer’s Foundation of America:Website: For additional information on Dr. Cynthia’s Green visit her website: you sign-up for her newsletter she will offer several webinars throughout the year (mostly promoting her business) but often information is good. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my presentation on how organize a brain health fair in your facility. Any additional questions you can email me at dlangan@ or call me at 410-308-9484.Debby Langan, LSWA, CSACommunity Liaison2525 Pot Spring RoadTimonium, MD 21093Phone: 410-308-9484Fax: 410-308-9496dlangan@Like Mercy Ridge on facebook! "The real winners in life are the people who look at every situation with an expectation that they can make it work or make it better." ................
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