Brain Games, Brain Gains

Jerry Groters knows about keeping in shape. A lifelong athlete, coach, and avid biker, Jerry continues to work on his physical fitness at age 92, including diligently riding his Schwinn Airdyne while watching Bonanza each day. But Jerry is also a former educator, and he is firmly committed to keeping his brain fit. That’s why he’s one of the many residents who takes advantage of the Dakim BrainFitness program at Royal Park Place.

Life Enrichment Director Paula St. Amant is a cheerleader for the program. “This is a great program because it’s so personalized,” she says. “It’s a program that gives you computer-generated challenges that are tailored to your age and what you did for a living.”

Dakim BrainFitness offers 20-minute daily challenges that vary each day for each resident. The company says this program has been clinically proven to significantly improve memory and language abilities, the two aspects of cognitive function that are of the greatest concern to people over age 50. According to their web site, Dakim says that “medical research has concluded that long-term participation in rigorous cognitive stimulation, where multiple domains of the brain are exercised routinely — creating what brain researchers call a cognitive reserve (a reserve of neural connections) — is associated with as much as a 63% reduced risk for dementia.”

Jerry believes it’s working for him. “I know it has improved my memory quite a bit,” he says. “It also has improved my brain to be able to remember things in a more detailed way. My memory has definitely increased.”

Since he has always been a competitive person, he feels personally challenged to improve each day. “One day I had 100 percent, and the next day I missed one and got a 95,” he says. “That made me mad I missed it, and I was waiting to go back the next day and get that back. But, of course, it gets more challenging the better you get at it. It really helps me keeps my competitive edge.”

The residents sign up for the program if they’re interested, and so far, interest has been high. The Dakim program is one of the first things Jerry talks about with new residents.

“I’ve used the program over 1,000 times, and I try to do it every day,” he says. “When I miss something, that just gives me a reason to beat it next time.”