A wide variety of people sit at a large table bathed in the unusually warm sun for October: university researchers, public service employees and residents of the Côte-des-Neiges district.
We are at the research center of the University Institute of Geriatrics Montreal (CRIUGM), where a workshop is being held aimed at developing solutions with and for older people to ensure the maintenance of their cognitive health.
The activity is one of the initiatives of the Innovative Quarter, a living laboratory project focused on co-developing services and programs designed to make this Montreal neighborhood more inclusive for its seniors.
This extensive project focuses on mobility, communication and cognition and is led by University of Montreal professors Nathalie Bier (Faculty of Rehabilitation) and Ana Inés Ansaldo (Faculty of Speech Therapy and Audiology). It values the diversity of knowledge, the ability of communities to act and participation.
Work together to live better
The participating older people share their knowledge.
Photo credit: Amélie Philibert, University of Montreal
The cognitive component is led by Sylvie Belleville, professor at the Department of Psychology at UdeM and holder of the Canada Research Chair in cognitive neuroscience of aging and cerebral plasticity, together with researchers Nouha Ben Gaied, director of the Berthiaume Foundation – Du Tremblay, and Patricia Belchior, professor at McGill University.
They work with representatives from the Côte-des-Neiges Library and Côte-des-Neiges Cultural Center, as well as with older people in the neighborhood, to promote their cognitive health.
“It is a different type of research that speaks directly to the affected community and where all participants are equal – both the research team and community partners and users. “Promoting brain health in older people is sometimes easier and more sustainable,” notes Sylvie Belleville.
The CRIUGM workshop therefore aimed to better understand the needs, concerns and interests of older people in terms of cognition, in order to ultimately develop more adapted activities.
Concrete advantages
Sylvie Belleville, listen
Photo credit: Amélie Philibert, University of Montreal
The meeting opened with a lecture by Sylvie Belleville on neurocognitive disorders and their risk factors (smoking, lack of exercise, alcohol abuse, social isolation, hearing loss, etc.).
With this information in mind, the older people were then asked to indicate the activities they would enjoy and that would maintain their cognitive health. They unanimously shared the desire to have access to more social activities that would allow them to discuss and debate. For example, you want to watch a documentary together, but above all you have time to talk about it afterwards.
Since the Côte-des-Neiges district is known for its ethnocultural diversity, participants also indicated that they wanted to learn more about other cultures, especially by learning the basics of another language or by sharing traditional recipes.
“These are all activities that create connections and are intellectually stimulating. “I call that “double counting”, i.e. activities that affect more than one risk factor,” emphasizes Sylvie Belleville.
Ultimately, this meeting will have a tangible impact on the residents of Côte-des-Neiges. Listening to their requests, community partners plan to design a new program or modify the existing one to better reflect the reality of the members surveyed.