Donations help patients at Thornhill Manor up their game
“Music therapy is used to soothe or stimulate people with advanced dementia.”
Play therapy helps older adults with dementia improve their cognitive skills.
In the build-up to World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21, the Thornhill Manor Retirement Village donated hand-made games to the Thembalami Care Centre.
The NPO Rand Aid Association runs the retirement village and the care centre.
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Thornhill Manor resident Vicky Keenan, a qualified occupational therapist and skilled DIYer, made the games.
They are designed to enhance memory and motor skills.
Thembalami’s occupational therapist, Tsakani Shihlomule, received the games Feed the Clown and dart board.
“Playing games and engaging in fun activities is a form of therapy and an effective way of exercising the brain,” said Thornhill Manor social worker Karen Griessel.
“The interaction achieved by playing games with friends strengthens a person’s sense of belonging, thus reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness.”
A specially mixed therapeutic colour paint was donated and will be used to freshen up the activity room.
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“We also donated three portable CD players and two boxes of CDs with classical music and golden oldies. Music therapy is used to soothe or stimulate people with advanced dementia,” said Griessel.
Musical perception, emotion, and memory can survive long after other forms of memory and cognitive function have disappeared.
