Using Your Noggin

PROGRAM TO HELP SENIORS STAY MENTALLY ALERT

PRAIRIE GROVE — Use your noggin to save your noggin.

That’s the premise behind a program that is intended to help senior citizens stay mentally and physically healthy as they get older.

“They say the biggest fear of seniors is losing their mind,” said Prairie Grove Senior Center Director Linda Willkie. “They are concerned about losing their independence and when you don’t have your right mind, you can’t be independent.”

The Prairie Grove Senior Center will launch a new program called “Super Noggin” at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 29. The only cost is $10 to pay for the workbook. Super Noggin will be taught by Willkie and Barbara Methvin, who are both certified in the program.

The sessions will be held weekly for 51 weeks and will last from 1 1 ⁄ hours to 2

2 hours. The first session will provide an introduction to the program.

“It’s really good to keep learning new things,” Willkie said. “This is not for a grade. It’s fun learning. It’s having fun and interacting with people.”

Each session will include a combination of videos, activities and workbook pages. Participants also will have activities to complete during the week.

Willkie said long- term studies indicate that Alzheimer’s disease can be delayed or prevented by staying mentally and physically active. Super Noggin teaches participants everything they need to know about brain health and then leads them through steps to actually do it.

Each week, participants have three “noggin builders” to help with brain activity. The first week, for example, seniors are asked to think of a good title for their life story, learn three new vocabulary words from the dictionary and to list at least 20 photo ideas for an article on Paris.

Other recommendations include exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, laughing, taking deep breaths for relaxation, being grateful and noticing nature.

Participants receive points for completing the recommended activities.

Willkie said the program is based on a book written by Dr. Vincent Fortanasce called “The Anti Alzheimer’s Prescription.” She said Fortanasce, a world-renowned neurologist, psychiatrist and rehabilitation specialist, was motivated to write the book when his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Willkie encourages seniors 60 years and older to try Super Noggin and to “get out of our comfort zone.”

For more information, call the senior center at 8462794.