Exercise classes for your mind

Usually when you’re talking “fitness,” it conjures up images of health clubs, but Oasis Senior Center features a four-day session to strengthen a part of the body you don’t always associate with treadmills and weightlifting machines ? the mind.

Memory Fitness classes organized by Adult Day Services of Orange County are being presented at the senior center by its manager of community relations, Allison Cato.

“We focus on new techniques and different practices people can incorporate into their life to hopefully prevent Alzheimer’s and dementia,” she said.

The interactive class is intended to inform seniors about the warning signs of memory degeneration and gives them tools they can use to strengthen their mental health.

The class, which takes place on four Wednesdays in July and August, is intended for healthy seniors who are able to attend meetings at the center.

Cordula Dick-Muehlke, executive director at Adult Day Services of Orange County and organizer of the class, said that results have shown the program is effective.

“When we do the educational session, I know with evaluating many of the participants that their memory has increased and that many are implementing the strategies,” she said.

The session works well because the memory techniques are easy for seniors to carry out.

“We went to the research to identify strategies that work and are simple,” Dick-Muehlke said.

Seniors taking part in the class already seem to be experiencing results. Participant Sandy Caston of Costa Mesa took notes during class and shared her thoughts afterward.

“I like the length of the class because it’s short but it’s a lot of information,” Caston said. “I like knowing that everyone’s in the same boat here. We all have memory difficulties.”

Enrollment numbers show that the class is in high demand. Cato said the class was considered full at 60 people, and 40 more were put on a waiting list.

Dick-Muehlke said she is not surprised by the large turnout.

“We had a program for the early stages of Alzheimer’s before this, but the patients came up to me and said the fun and games are fine, but they wanted to fight their disease,” she said.

That’s when Dick-Muehlke started gathering research from outside sources so that she could organize the Memory Fitness session.

Techniques from the research of UCLA professor Gary Small are among those that she implements. For example, Small’s research stressed the importance of “Look, Snap and Connect” for seniors, which emphasizes that they pay attention, take mental pictures and connect the pictures.

UCI professor of psychology Peter Ditto said he thinks the class is nice for seniors, though it probably won’t cure Alzheimer’s disease.

“There’s certainly no harm in this, and there can be a lot of positive benefits in terms of mental acuity and social interaction,” he said.

Adult Day Services of Orange County also offers a session for seniors diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s called Memory Boosters, which informs patients and caretakers about the disease.

For those who can’t attend either session, Dick-Muehlke said a good diet can also help to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The last two classes of Memory Fitness are scheduled for July 26 and Aug. 2. The second session begins on Aug. 14 and will be held on four consecutive Mondays.

Cato said the most important thing about the class is that people understand that it is a welcoming environment.

“There’s such a stigma about memory loss among the senior community. This is a place where people can feel safe and comfortable talking about memory loss.”

For more information, call (714) 593-9630.dpt.22-boomers-1-CPhotoInfoQ01T717Q20060722j2qdbnncCredit: CHRISTOPHER WAGNER / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Janelle Williams, of Laguna Beach, studies the screen during a word correlation exercise in the Memory Fitness Class at Oasis Senior Center on Wednesday. dpt.22-boomers-2-CPhotoInfoQ01T717T20060722j2qdbrncCredit: CHRISTOPHER WAGNER / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Allison Cato, manager of community relations for Adult Day Services of Orange County, teaches the Memory Fitness Class at the Oasis Senior Center.