{"id":135965,"date":"2018-04-06T07:27:05","date_gmt":"2018-04-06T11:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=135965"},"modified":"2018-07-31T10:42:30","modified_gmt":"2018-07-31T14:42:30","slug":"improving-lives-dementia-using-memories-baseball-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/04\/improving-lives-dementia-using-memories-baseball-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving the Lives of Those with Dementia by Using Memories of Baseball"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dementia can be caused by a number of diseases, but the most common is Alzheimer\u2019s, which affects\u00a05.7 million people<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. today.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still a stigma attached to the disease;\u00a0some fear that it\u2019s contagious<\/a>, while others\u00a0are ashamed<\/a>\u00a0to admit that a friend or family member is quietly suffering. One of the most frustrating aspects of Alzheimer\u2019s is that scientists haven\u2019t figured out a direct cause, nor a cure.<\/p>\n

Of course, any work toward finding a cure is incredibly important. But in the absence of one, I\u2019ve always been struck by why, in the U.S., less attention is devoted to improving the quality of life for persons with dementia.<\/p>\n

So a few years ago, I started to look outside of the U.S. to learn about how other countries are responding to Alzheimer\u2019s in innovative ways. I found that sports \u2013 specifically, something called \u201csports reminiscence therapy\u201d \u2013 is increasingly playing a role.<\/p>\n

Sports reminiscence therapy falls under the umbrella of what are called \u201csocialization programs,\u201d in which persons with dementia gather in a group setting and participate in activities with their peers.<\/p>\n

Most current socialization programs incorporate some form of creative expression \u2013 music, storytelling, theater, and dance \u2013 and\u00a0past studies<\/a>\u00a0have demonstrated their effectiveness.<\/p>\n

Because many with dementia have witnessed their usual outlets for self-expression gradually dissipate, these programs give them structured opportunities to tap into the brain\u2019s creative network and socialize with caregivers, staff members, and peers.\u00a0Art gallery viewings<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0drama productions<\/a>\u00a0were also found to be valuable activities: Those who participated were generally happier and more social.<\/p>\n

However, because\u00a0two-thirds<\/a>\u00a0of those who have dementia are female, many of these socialization programs have traditionally been geared towards women.<\/p>\n

For this reason, sports reminiscence therapy is starting to gain traction as a type of socialization program that could work particularly well for men with dementia.<\/p>\n

After some of his friends were diagnosed with dementia, soccer historian Michael White launched a program in Scotland called\u00a0Football Memories<\/a>\u00a0in 2009. The program offers persons with dementia an opportunity to chat with other soccer fans in an informal and relaxed setting. Today there are hundreds of volunteers and participants, in addition to offshoot programs that center on golf, rugby, cricket, and\u00a0shinty<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The success of White\u2019s program inspired a similar one across the Atlantic: baseball reminiscence therapy. The first launched in St. Louis in 2013; now, there are six across the country, including one implemented in early 2017 at the River House Adult Day Care Center in Cos Cob, Connecticut, where I\u2019m currently conducting a study to assess its benefits.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
Two of the participants in the Baseball Reminiscence Program at River House Adult Care Center in Cos Cobb, Connecticut. (Kenneth Best\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the River House, persons with dementia, caregivers, and volunteers all gather in a group setting every two weeks. They might talk about where they were when they learned that Bobby Thompson hit the \u201cShot Heard Round the World<\/a>,\u201d or relive Joe DiMaggio\u2019s 56-game hitting streak. Sometimes they\u2019ll watch old footage of New York Yankees, New York Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers, and NY Giants games, or listen to radio broadcasts featuring legendary broadcasters\u00a0Mel Allen<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Red Barber<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Simply hearing others talk about a sport they love clearly triggers enjoyable memories; by tapping into a shared passion, the participants become more engaged, and it seems to improve their self-esteem.<\/p>\n

The activities don\u2019t always involve watching videos or talking about the past. Sometimes they get the chance to play. Take the program from March 22 of this year. Participants showed up, sang \u201cGod Bless America\u201d \u2013 and then learned that they would be playing wiffle ball (which was invented<\/a>\u00a0in nearby Shelton, Connecticut). They took turns reading the rules aloud from a printed handout and watched a video of people playing outdoors, before being led to a makeshift \u201cbaseball diamond\u201d in the center\u2019s activity room.<\/p>\n

Staff provided bats, balls, and bases for a two-inning game. Every participant had the opportunity to hit, while volunteers served as pinch runners. Everyone took turns playing infield and outfield, and at the end of the game, the group sang \u201cTake Me Out to the Ballgame.\u201d<\/p>\n

My study is still ongoing \u2013 I\u2019m still in the process of gathering data and qualitative assessments from the caregivers.<\/p>\n

But the laughter and smiles I witnessed during the wiffle ball game tell me that something\u2019s working.<\/p>\n

Originally published in The Conversation<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Other nations are responding to Alzheimer\u2019s in innovative ways. Sports \u2013 specifically ‘sports reminiscence therapy’ \u2013 is increasingly playing a role, says UConn professor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":127935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2226,1715,2076,174],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[175],"class_list":["post-135965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clas","category-community-impact","category-research","category-uconn-stamford"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-10 22:44:33","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135965"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135973,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135965\/revisions\/135973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/127935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135965"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=135965"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=135965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}