Hua Hee Match – Dementia Card Games for Elderly

Description

Dementia fears? Are you feeling forgetful and having trouble focusing?

Why Should Seniors Play Games?

Games to fight dementia? Games aren’t just a fun way to pass the time. Playing card games can help to improve memory and concentration, and even prevent or delay the effects of Alzheimer’s. Simple games can keep seniors with dementia engaged and mentally active. Gathering for card games can also give seniors a much needed social outlet. Groups who gather regularly give participants a sense of community and belonging, which improves health and well-being. It’s even more important for seniors to actively seek out these kinds of social connections. Too often, they become too isolated because of changes in their physical health or the loss of their social groups. According to the National Institutes of Health in the US, brain-training exercises can slow down dementia between 33 to 48 percent.

If your senior family member or you enjoys the mental challenge and the interactions that come about because of games, here is a great card game to try!

Introducing

HUA HEE MATCH – ELDERLY CARD GAME

Hua Hee means happy in Hokkien. It is a card game designed for elderly in Singapore, aimed at helping caregivers fight the progression of dementia in their loved ones. Hua Hee can be played as a matching/snap game. 22 beautifully sketched designs of heritage items in Singapore such as Kueh Tutu, clogs and tingkat are available. The vibrantly coloured cards come with elderly-friendly font and fit snugly in your palm which makes for easy shuffling!

Instructions

1- Identify matching cards and lay them out in a sequence that is suitable for your players.

2- Ask players to memorize the position of the matching cards.

3- Flip the cards over when they are ready.

4- Ask players to identify the matching cards and flip open the cards identified to determine that they have the correct pair.

5- The game continues until all the matching pairs are uncovered.

Item included

• 22 designs, 44 cards
• Game instructions

Measurement: (W) 85mm x (h) 75mm

Inspiration behind Hua Hee

Christel, is a Singaporean and the founder of this mental card games. She lives with her grandmother who seemed to forget certain things when she got older. She also had a grandfather who was diagnosed with dementia. Determined to keep her grandmother’s mind active, the family explored different ways to engage her grandmothers such as colouring books, foods that boost the memory, and exercises. Since then, Christel’s family has seen positive results in her grandmother’s memory as well as disposition. Christel noticed a lack of home-based activities to keep seniors engaged in Singapore and this led her to develop the card game “Hua Hee”.

“Watching a loved one age is difficult. You see them lose the ability to do things they once could. This sense of loss deepens when the elderly is diagnosed with dementia. I believe that there are others, just like my family, who are at a loss when dementia strikes. At home, before you lose someone to dementia completely, there are things we can do to slow down the progression of the mental illness,” said Christel.

Get yours for your relatives and friends to help them fight boredom and dementia!