{"id":739,"date":"2020-01-04T13:26:23","date_gmt":"2020-01-04T21:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/?p=739"},"modified":"2024-08-15T12:31:47","modified_gmt":"2024-08-15T19:31:47","slug":"5-reasons-seniors-should-join-a-book-club-in-when-living-in-assisted-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/5-reasons-seniors-should-join-a-book-club-in-when-living-in-assisted-living\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons to Join a Book Club When Living in Assisted Living"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Senior<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Book Club at Alexander Gardens Assisted Living is one of the many life-enriching activities offered to our residents. We understand leading a full and meaningful life is important at any age but when seniors move to an assisted living community a good life enrichment program will improve the quality of their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staying active in an Assisted Living community is vital in reducing depression and isolation, and book clubs are a great way of staying connected and engaged. Research shows that reading helps in retaining long term memory, focus, and concentration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her article, Being a Lifelong Bookworm May Keep You Sharp in Old Age<\/a>, Marina Koren talks about giving our brains a workout. Reading and retaining words require more mental energy than, watching TV or playing Solitary on an IPad. According to Koren, \u201cIn particular, people who participated in mentally stimulating activities over their lifetimes, both in young, middle and old age, had a slower rate of decline in memory and other mental capacities than those who did not.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No matter your age it\u2019s important to read and these are some of the reasons seniors should join a book club. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Socialization, in addition to giving your brain a workout, a book club can be social. It brings together residents in a group environment to share their ideas about the book they are reading. They may have so much fun and meet someone new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Expanding resident\u2019 horizons beyond the walls in assisted living. Reading brings the outside world to the resident\u2019s world without leaving the building. Books offer a glimpse into the lives of other people, different cultures, and current events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Practicing effective communication skills in a book club helps residents clarify what they have read in the book. Residents will question each other about ideas and opinions. In addition, they will provide feedback to each other when discussing characters and plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Setting goals for reading is a good thing for residents.
Sometimes residents get over whelmed if they feel pressure to join an activity or group especially if they were not social when living in their home. But reading is an individual activity and can be done at one\u2019s own pace. Whether the resident chooses to join the conversation or sit and listen it\u2019s up to them, but both are better than staying in their room. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.\u00a0Getting out of their comfort zone. Sometimes residents get comfortable and won\u2019t try new things. When they commit to joining a book club they may have to read books that they ordinarily would not read. And they may have to discuss topics they are not exposed to on a regular basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improving long-term memory in seniors through the book club is just as important as exercising. The mental challenge of reading and retaining information helps delay the onset of dementia. A science advisor Dr. Zaven Khachaturian, to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association published an article in\u00a0USA TODAY<\/a>, states, \u201c brain-challenging activities build a reserve of neuronal connections, making it take longer for the Alzheimer\u2019s process to destroy enough neurons for symptoms to emerge.\u201d As the residents read and discuss the material in the book they are retaining the information and helping the brain stay young. Reading no matter what your age is good for your brain. It helps improve concentration, focus and thinking skills. Coupled with a book club makes reading a positive and rewarding experience for seniors living in assisted living. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are looking for a book for your book club try reading, Happy for No Reason<\/a>, by\u00a0New York bestselling author,\u00a0Marci Shimoff. Why not start your year off right and learn how to reset your happiness button.\u00a0Take the Happiness Quiz from\u00a0Happy for No Reason\u00a0Questionnaire.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Aristotle, \u201cHappiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence.\u201d Make this the year of the book and join the club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Book Club at Alexander Gardens Assisted Living is one of the many life-enriching activities offered to our residents. We understand leading a full and meaningful life is important at any age but when seniors move to an assisted living community a good life enrichment program will improve the quality of their lives. Staying active […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1486,"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739\/revisions\/1486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alexandergardensal.com\/activities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}