"Brain Training" Sweeps Across America
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EmailSANTA MONICA, Calif. -- The Dakim(R) BrainFitness(TM) System has been adopted by 286 senior living communities in 34 states to help residents build their defenses against dementia and memory loss. Dakim has added 136 new sites in the last year, further solidifying its status as the #1 brain training system provider in the senior care market.
The rapid gains reflect growing recognition of the importance of brain fitness as part of a community's resident wellness programming as well as Dakim design features tailored to the needs of seniors and senior care providers. Entertaining multimedia activities that contain film clips and music from seniors' past, adjust to users' abilities, are updated every few days, and are played on a touch screen appliance requiring no computer skills keep users engaged and eager to return on a regular basis. The self-service nature of the system also minimizes the need for caregiver assistance and associated costs.
The emphasis on promoting sustained use - unique in the brain fitness market - is based on numerous studies demonstrating a substantial reduction in dementia risk with consistent, long-term mental stimulation. One 21-year study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that the risk can be lowered by as much as 63%, apparently by building a cognitive reserve that can help compensate for brain aging.
The system is also useful for residents with mild dementia. "We have three Dakim units with 60 users, and we have seen noticeable positive effects even on our residents with early Alzheimer's," said Rodney Stoops, Administrator of Providence Place of Chambersburg, a Pennsylvania retirement community that has used the Dakim platform since 2007. "They talk more, their energy level is a little higher, and their aggression level seems to lessen after a session. We have even been able to relocate a few residents from secured to non-secured environments after they began using the Dakim system."
The 286 facilities now using Dakim BrainFitness include independent retirement, assisted living and skilled nursing communities, adult day care centers and senior centers. Recent adoptees include Claridge Court, Kansas; Evangelical Homes of Michigan; The Village at Duxbury, Massachusetts; Harbor Chase, Florida: CC Young, Texas; and multiple Brookdale Senior Living communities.
In May, the system also became available for home use with a two-user license. Dakim began offering the product to home users in response to strong demand from seniors and their families.
All Dakim BrainFitness activities were developed in conjunction with experts in brain health, aging, entertainment and communications, based on standardized neurologic tests. The system self-adjusts the level of challenge for ability levels ranging from active seniors to early-stage Alzheimer's patients. The touch screen hardware unit requires no mouse, keyboard, computer knowledge or software loading by care providers.
Each 20-minute session exercises short- and long-term memory, critical thinking, visuospatial orientation, calculation and language for a thorough brain workout. Activities range from anagrams and name-that-tune challenges to interactive puzzles and narrated literary passages with follow-up questions. Friendly and frequently humorous voiceovers explain each challenge as well as offering encouragement, even if users give wrong answers.
A free 30-day trial is available to qualified senior living communities by calling Dakim Inc. at (800) 856-5502. Consumers can purchase the system at www.dakim.com or by calling 888-MY-DAKIM.
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More Information
Dakim Inc. is the leading provider of brain fitness programs designed to help seniors use rigorous cognitive stimulation in an effort to reduce their risk of memory loss and dementia. The Dakim BrainFitness System is a touch screen-based mental stimulation system that offers a constantly changing series of rigorous but entertaining multimedia activities to help seniors preserve brain function. Home users can use it to combat a decline in brain function; institutions and home caregivers can use it to provide effective mental stimulation while reducing the cost of resident care. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA. For more information, visit www.dakim.com.
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