February 22 is Play More Cards Day, making it the perfect opportunity to bring out a deck of cards and encourage your loved one to enjoy some fun, brain-boosting activities. Card games are not only a great way to stay entertained, but they also offer incredible benefits for cognitive health, especially for seniors in elder care services.

Whether played alone or with others, card games can strengthen memory, enhance problem-solving skills, and promote strategic thinking while providing a fun and engaging experience.

Three Ways Playing Cards Boosts Brain Health

• Memory: Many card games require the use of memory. Some are more complicated than others, but they all have benefits whether it’s trying to remember how many aces have been played or simply remembering the rules of the game, playing cards is a great workout for the area of the brain in charge of recall.
• Problem Solving: Card games often have strategy involved, meaning your loved one is going to have to think about the best cards to use at the right time to do well in the game. That requires the use of problem-solving skills.
• Planning: Another part of many card games is strategizing or planning. You might hold onto a card during one turn so that you can use it more wisely during a future turn. These types of brain functions strengthen the brain’s ability to create solutions for future scenarios.

Great Card Games for Your Senior

Card games are a fantastic way to provide entertainment and engagement for seniors with elder care services. With so many options available, it’s all about finding the perfect game your loved one can enjoy not only on Play More Cards Day but year-round. Easy to carry and suitable for all ages, card games are a simple yet effective way to bring joy and connection to elder care settings.

Six Fun Card Games For Your Senior to Play

1. UNO: While UNO is a card game that requires its special deck, it’s also become a universal game that just about everyone knows the rules to from an early age, so it’s a great game to play with all ages whether it’s the grandkids or your loved one’s elder care providers.
2. Cribbage: A little more difficult than UNO and requiring a board piece, this is a great game of strategy for your loved one to play with other older individuals like family members or when an elder care provider visits. The game requires players to use basic math skills along with strategy.
3. Rummy: This classic game is a great card game for two or more people that requires your loved one to match cards and form sets, using those important cognitive functions of sorting and memory. It’s a light-hearted game that can be great to play on a family game night.
4. Bridge: If your loved one is looking to play games as part of a night of social engagement, Bridge is the perfect card game. The game builds mental acuity by challenging players to anticipate moves and work as a team.
5. Matching Games: You can use specially created cards for this card game or use a couple of standard decks and sort out a specific number of pairs. This is a great game for building up memory and can be fun to play with someone like an elder care provider.
6. Solitaire: One of the best games to play alone, it can fill time and stimulate cognitive function even when your loved one has no one to play with.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Elder Care in Coronado, CA, please contact the caring staff at Aaron Home Care. (619) 880-5522

A Trusted Home Care Agency Serving La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Point Loma, San Diego, UTC, La Mesa, Chula Vista, Coronado, Bonita, Eastlake, and the surrounding areas.

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Aaron Laney

President & Founder at Aaron Home Care

Aaron Laney truly has the heart and experience for the field of caregiving. He first began working with adults with disabilities in 1994 as a camp counselor in New York State, where he discovered that he had a talent for communicating with others who might not be able to care for themselves.

In 1999, Aaron was named Residential Program Manager of a group home for disabled adults in Arlington, Virgina. Here, he built a reputation for being compassionate with his clients and efficient in company operations. In the years that followed, Washington DC’s human services field went through unprecedented reform when the city was fined $11 million for the previously unchecked abuse, neglect, and exploitation of the very population it was supposed to protect. In 2005, Aaron was selected by a watchdog company to co-create and implement a monitoring system to safeguard and advocate for the system’s most vulnerable residents. This system is still in use today.

Aaron is now using his unique gifts and profound experience in the human service field to provide San Diego County Seniors with dependable, compassionate caregivers through Aaron Home Care.

He currently serves on the board of the San Diego Regional Home Care Council and is an active member of the Senior Advocate Network of San Diego.

Aaron Home Care is a member of the American Board of Home Care and is accredited by the Better Business Bureau.

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