Sechenov University has developed a neurocorrection program for the elderly

Staff and students of Sechenov University have developed a program of neurocorrection training for the prevention and correction of mental and cognitive disorders in the elderly. It has already been implemented in two institutions. The volunteers also work with patients suffering from dementia and post-stroke complications.

The neurocorrection training program was developed by Olga Shalina, Associate Professor of the Department of Pedagogy and Medical Psychology at the Institute of Psychological and Social Work at Sechenov University, together with the students of the Institute. Classes are held in two institutions – the palliative department of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, where patients with dementia, multiple sclerosis and post-stroke complications are located, and the social rehabilitation center of veterans of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation named after V.M. Mikhailov.

The courses provide individual and group classes that allow you to maintain and develop higher mental functions – perception, memory, thinking, attention. The program also includes neuropsychological gymnastics, which affects the brain and activates its various structures through the body, Olga Shalina explained.

Working with a patient usually begins with hand massage, finger exercises, oculomotor and respiratory gymnastics. Two–handed drawing with simulators is also used - it helps to coordinate the work of the hemispheres of the brain. Among the exercises for developing memory and thinking are searching for differences in pictures, working with text and counting. "I must say that older people think better in their minds than you and me – they had a completely different education – but it can be difficult for them to memorize some sequence of arithmetic operations, say, a chain where addition and subtraction alternate, because for this you need to strain attention and memory, and these functions are in short supply. Therefore, the exercise is aimed at their development," said the psychologist.
Between meetings, which usually take place once a week, patients complete their homework – they are given notebooks listing the necessary exercises. The program is selected for each elderly person individually, taking into account their characteristics. When the meetings end, participants receive a memo with recommendations on how to continue on their own.

Such trainings cannot cure dementia, but they help patients become more active, more sociable, increase their motivation to be treated and perform exercises suggested by rehabilitologists, Olga Shalina noted. She explained that people with senile disorders often become inactive, meaning they can physically move, but they don't want to, retreating into a shell of loneliness. Therefore, the first task is to cheer up the patients.
In addition, during training sessions, people begin to open up and make contact, which allows them to restore seemingly lost memories. "Those who have not spoken for a long time quickly got tired of communicating, could no longer connect two words, in emotional moments they begin to speak, remember, relive some situations. Some people who didn't remember how old they were or what their children's names were, start talking about their lives and family. And one patient, usually introverted and silent, recently told us in vivid detail how everyone cried when Gagarin died," recalls Olga Shalina.

According to her, this effect occurs partly because the training includes not only exercises, but also casual communication with patients, and loneliness is one of the problems of the elderly, which can affect their condition along with cognitive deficits. Elderly people can feel lonely even in their family because of the difference in their views, worldview and pace of life.
During the training, volunteers always adapt to a specific person, to their needs – no pressure is allowed, tasks should only be a joy, said program volunteer, 4th year student Anna Velikanova.

One of the most important aspects of the training is the opportunity to listen and hear patients and, based on this, transform classes based on their preferences and personal qualities, said Dmitry Levchenko, a 4th-year student at the Institute of Psychological and Social Work at Sechenov University.

The student worked with several patients, but the most memorable for him was the training with his grandmother, who will turn 94 next year.

"Throughout the classes, we philosophized, shared experiences, and, of course, performed tasks aimed at developing higher mental functions. And how great it was to participate in such a process! To watch how an almost imperceptible flame inside flares up to a clear flame, how strong neural connections are formed again, how grateful a person is for the opportunity to feel capable, meaningful, needed!"