Sunday, May 13, 2012

Blog because you want to, but also to prevent Alzheimer's Disease... and even worse Dementia!

Blogging has been used all around the world for many purposes: informing, updating, venting, persuading, and promoting ideas and thoughts. The age of blogger's are anywhere from 13-45. Today, we can now add seniors (55 and up) to the world of blogger's and for the purpose of medical and health prevention. Seniors with Alzheimer's have been blogging to slow down the disease and prevent Dementia. Seniors that blog have been able to recall events and tasks, reminding them of what they did

Rebecca Logsdon, clinical psychologist and researcher at the University of Washington's Department of Psychosocial and Community Health says, "Web logs and e-mail can be an excellent way for people with AD to maintain family and social contacts, and to counter the depression that often accompanies their illness... We just don't know if the Internet directly impacts brain functioning," Logsdon said. "But even if it doesn't, it may slow down the debilitating consequences of the disease."

After working with seniors (5 years), I believe there is some truth to what Logsdon suggests about blogging. Seniors often learn quickly and feel a sense of accomplishment when completing projects like making lists or playing card games online. We can now add seniors to the generation of blogger's because they are armed with keyboards and ready to share and re-live precious moments to share with the world, and more importantly themselves.

1 comment:

  1. I like how this story shows that young people might not be the only "digital generation" if we encourage older citizens not to view online communication negatively. I'd like to hear more about the cognitive benefits of blogging, since it makes sense, given the benefits to organizing thoughts that Andrew Sullivan describes in our reading.

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