During the last lesson she brought three beautiful roses. One for the project leader, one for the volunteers and one for the sports teachers. As a thank you. But Lies Stikkelman also wants something from them. “Exercise must continue,” says the 86-year-old resident of Hoorn, who participated in a pilot to prevent and delay the development of dementia. “Because it really works.”
“A lot of research is being done into dementia,” says Robbert Huijsman, director and director of Geriant, at the meeting for healthcare professionals and other parties involved in this topic. Also with regard to the relationship between lifestyle and dementia. In 2020 a hugely beautiful article was published in the medical journal The Lancet. That got me thinking.”
Factors
The article explains which factors – from birth – have been proven to influence the development of dementia. For example, in middle age, hearing loss, brain damage due to trauma, alcohol consumption (more than 21 units per week) and obesity are said to play a role. For example, for age 65 and older, smoking, depression, social isolation, being physically inactive and diabetes are mentioned. “If you act quickly on this, for example by compensating for hearing loss with a hearing aid, you can delay or perhaps even prevent the onset of dementia. A calculation has been made for all risk factors, which shows that a 40% reduction is possible. A huge deflection from the increase in the number of people with dementia. This knowledge has inspired us to try something ourselves in this area.”
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Pedro Koning, Selami Yuksel and Marjon van der Ven listen to the findings of Lies Stikkelman.© Marcel Rob’s photo
This resulted in a program in which, in addition to social group activities and information about lifestyle and risk factors, exercise is the main focus. ,,Because its influence has been most proven’, Huijsman explains at the conference in MFA De Kreek in Zwaag. He smiles. “And the participants knew that.”
He refers to the nine people with mild cognitive impairment and three informal carers who participated in the pilot that was held in the Kersenboogerd. In the period from April to June they met ten Thursdays. “The meetings consisted of two parts,” says Huijsman, who is also a professor at Erasmus University. “First a substantive program, each time with a different theme. And then they went to the gym for exercise, led by Team Sport of the municipality of Hoorn. To see if it works. Like some kind of guinea pigs. But they also thought about the content.”
Score
It has turned out to be a hit. The participants gave the thematic part an 8.3 and the exercise lessons an 8.1 as an average ‘report mark’. Lies Stikkelman (86) is also very enthusiastic about the program. “After an accident I had, there is something wrong with my short-term memory,” she says. “I received an invitation from Lia de Boer (practice assistant at Kersenboogerd health center, ed.) to participate in the pilot. I thought that was not only fun, but also necessary.”
,,It gripped me right from the start”, continues Stikkelman. “The presence of experts in various fields, the support of the dietician and physiotherapists. Spacious. And the sports people. Awesome. We had a lot of fun. And I try to do the exercises that I have been given regularly at home.”
The fact that she was also involved in the content of the program as a participant did her good. “Being heard is so important. I can still think along, which is very nice. And I’ve seen the value of this pilot. At one point I started thinking to myself: ‘Hey, it seems that moving my thinking improves’. Yes, it really works.”
The compliments to the exercise instructors (‘I have benefited a lot from you’) make Pedro Koning of the Sport team of the municipality of Hoorn blush. “We really only get positive reactions,” he says. ,,I’m not a scientist, I can’t measure it, but I do see psychological well-being. Wow. They were always happy to return. Some hurdles had to be overcome, but you could see that people were gaining more and more confidence. And a bond was formed. With each other and with the teacher.”
According to Koning, it was ‘quite a very intensive program’. ,,By positively stimulating the participants, you see that they can do more than they thought possible before. You also saw significant improvements in the test we started every meeting with. And when you hear that they have started to move a bit more because of this, that’s very nice. That’s what you hope. This target group just needs a helping hand.”
And that is why, underlines policy advisor Selami Yuksel of the municipality of Hoorn, the collaboration with the health center, GGD and other partners is so important. The promise of alderman Marjon van der Ven (‘As a municipality we are very happy that we have run this pilot and hope that we can continue with this’) to help bring the program to the attention of other municipalities in Noord-Holland Noord , Geriant director Robbert Huijsman agrees content. “Because I think people really benefit from this.”
Rediscover your Brain is a program to prevent and delay the development of dementia. Geriant works together with the municipality of Hoorn, VGZ, GGD Hollands Noorden, Stichting Netwerk, Vicono, Zorg-Koepel West-Friesland and health center Kersenboogerd.
Also read: Lianne Reus from Hoorn gets her PhD for research into dementia: ‘Customized treatment possible in the future’
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