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Q: Would you please tell us about Maplewood at Danbury and your MVM brain gym
A: Maplewood at Danbury is a privately owned assisted living facility in Danbury, CT. We have 64 apartments and we are fortunate enough to be full at this point. We offer three programs for our residents: Traditions which has 22 traditional assisted living apartments, Horizons which has 14
apartments for early stage memory residents and Generations which is our memory care unit with 28 apartments. Our MVM Brain Gym includes four computers with touch screens and it is located in a dedicated room in our main entrance floor. We have plans to add an additional touch screen computer to our Generations program to make it even more convenient for residents there to use.
Q: How long have you been using MVM?
A: We were the third in the US to use My Vigorous Mind back in January of 2008. We have been using it ever since.
Q: How did you choose MVM?
A: We actually had another brain fitness program which was much more labor intensive and required
staff to be present at all time. When we saw MVM it was clear that it had a lot more to offer and the fact that it was internet based and that content was being updated every week we felt was powerful. Our residents can also access MVM 24/7 which is important.
Q: Who uses MVM at Maplewood?
A: When we began, we had a few early adopters and when people heard from them how much fun it was, many joined. We consistently average thirty people who are coming to the brain gym on a regular basis. They come from all of our three programs. There were times when I would see a dozen people in the room, sometimes three sitting in front of a touch screen and exercising their brain. It really became a social center. Initially we had the brain gym open 9am-5pm but residents came and asked that it be open 24/7. I was concerned. It is great because some of them have a hard time sleeping and they can come to the brain gym at night. They say that it helps them to reduce stress and find it easier to fall asleep afterwards.
Q: How frequently is MVM used?
A: We have organized brain wellness classes three times a week which are run by the activity staff. Many residents come outside of these hours. We had a resident who used to come for several hours a day and many come for several short sessions! It is nice when one resident teaches another resident how to use it and they sometime share the same computer and do exercises together.
Q: Which sections of MVM are used the most?
A: I see them doing a lot of the Brain Fitness exercises and playing the Mind Games. Some of them like to look at pictures in the Recollections module where they can go back to places where they grew up.
We also have residents who like to read the Fun & Facts stories that are updated weekly.
Q: What are the main benefits of MVM for Maplewood and how would you want to improve?
A: We have really been helped by My Vigorous Mind in our marketing efforts. We have had an average occupancy of more than 95% in the last
two years and the brain gym with MVM has been a powerful differentiator. When we opened the brain gym, we had ABC Channel 8 in CT doing a story about us and the Danbury News Times ran a feature article on the front page. This was invaluable PR. We hand out My Vigorous Mind brochures with every sales kit and we promote the fact that we take care of our residents’ brain wellness in presentations we give at senior centers and in the community. I would like us to do more in the area of Recollections by continuing to collect photographs from areas that our residents recognize. This is an activity we could increase significantly and it would also potentially get families involved. I would also like to see us using MVM for more group activities on a large TV screen. We currently do it primarily in the brain gym individually and the social aspect combined with cognitive training is very attractive to me.
I was also pleased that my town of Orange, CT chose MVM for the senior center
Q: Would you please tell us about Shorefront
A: Shorefront Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care (Shorefront) is a skilled nursing facility in Coney Island. It is part of MJHS (Metropolitan Jewish Health System). Shorefront has 300 residents in our long-term care unit and 60 in our sub-acute (rehab unit). Our occupancy is about 99 percent. The average age in our long-term care unit is 82 and 72 in our rehab unit. In our rehab unit we see patients of all ages: seniors after suffering strokes, patients after traumatic brain injuries (such as from car accidents), orthopedic surgeries, and patients recovering from general medical conditions.
Q: What staff is using My Vigorous Mind at Shorefront?
A: Occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapists, recreational staff.
Q: How long have you had My Vigorous Mind and how is it set up?
A: We have had the software for about a year. We have four laptop computers and four touch screens mounted on a cart, which we move throughout the building. Sometimes they are all used in one room for small group activities. In other cases they are used in the rehab area or are wheeled to bed-ridden residents. Sometimes family members play together with their bed-ridden loved ones.
Q: How did you get funding for the software and the touch screen?
A: We won a grant from the New York State Department of Health. It funds the hardware and the licenses for the software for two years.
Q: How is the software being used?
A: We are using the software in several ways and for different purposes. In our sub-acute unit we utilize the software to rehabilitate patients with brain injuries to return them to their highest cognitive level of function. In addition we utilize the software to identify potential cognitive deficits that otherwise might be missed. In the long-term care unit the My Vigorous Mind software is used to maintain our patients’ current level of cognitive function while offering a fun and stimulating program that the residents enjoy.
We have also designed programs where patients and their families can use the software together to have fun while exercising their brains.
Q: Have you seen any effect on residents who are using My Vigorous Mind?
A: Residents who are using the software are having a great time and their mood is improved as result. We have 17 regular users of the software who have been using it for many months. When we last looked at their quarterly MDS reports, we were impressed to see that none of them showed decline in their cognition.
Q: How do you see the program helping you in the future?
A: Come October 1, 2010 there are new rules as to the delivery method of rehabilitation. Therapists will have significantly more one-to-one time with their patients. We can utilize MVM in a waiting room fashion where patients who are waiting for the start of their therapy sessions can exercise their brains prior to exercising their bodies.
Q: So what do you think is the key to a successful implementation of the My Vigorous Mind software?
A: The key to Shorefront’s successful implementation was that we trained all the therapists, regardless of discipline, in our facility on the components of cognitive rehabilitation. This training was performed by Vigorous Mind neuropsychologist, with the focus of utilizing the software for cognitive rehabilitation.
Q: What are you planning next?
A: We have started to offer personal WIFI throughout our facility. It allows residents to login to My Vigorous Mind from their own computers. In addition we are expanding the music and picture libraries. Another goal is to increase the use of the web through the friendly interface that the software offers.
Can you please tell us about your community?
The Woods at Cedar Run at Camp Hill, PA is part of the IntegraCare chain. Our community consists of three neighborhoods: Independent Living with 70 residents, Assisted Living with 38 residents and Memory Care with 17 residents. What is unique about this community is that we do not isolate the neighborhoods. We do a lot of integration activities.
When did you begin using My Vigorous Mind?
Our staff was trained in late September 2010 and we began working with our Vigorous Mind Champions (VMCs) in early October.
Who among the staff participated in the training and who works with the residents?
Six of the managers in our community participated in the full day training led by Yuval. The staff of Activity Department has taken on the responsibility of introducing Vigorous Mind to the residents as well as the training sessions.
Please explain how the Vigorous Mind Champions concept works
These are six of our independent residents who train separately to learn how to assist the other residents during individual sessions.
They began classes three weeks before the other residents, utilizing the Vigorous Mind PowerPoint lessons. Once they felt they had a good grasp on the material we began training for the IL, AL and MC residents. Each training session begins in our movie theatre where we have a large Digital TV on which we project MVM. We invite the VM Champions to the session with the other residents and when we have gone through the slides of a lesson, we split into two groups. The VMC’s take half of the residents to the Brain Gym and they train them 1-on-1 on what they just learned at the theatre. The other half stays at the theatre and participate in group activities. Then we switch. Each VMC takes responsibility for one resident. Then during the week the VMC and the resident meet several times for additional 1-on-1 sessions.
How have different populations reacted to the introduction of MVM?
Vigorous Mind is a phenomenal addition to our programming at The Woods. The potential it presents to our community is extraordinary and the residents in all three communities are already reaping the benefits. I am particularly pleased with the progress we are making with our Memory Care residents when we do the group sessions in the movie theatre. As a group they succeed where as individuals they may fail! The support and socialization it provides is also very beneficial. The Memory Care residents love the exercise GUESS WHAT THIS IS. We have those that can still see, read the possible answers out loud and others are trying to guess what the picture is that is unfolding before them. Once the picture has been discovered we participate in a mini reminisce session as a group and then proceed to the next slide. As a group we succeed! This group also loves to participate in the exercise called CHIPS. CHIPS is a very fast paced activity that requires attention to detail! They all participate and are so engaged. It is fun to watch. Four of our Memory Care residents have now advanced to individual sessions and are making great strides. They understand how the program helps their cognition and more importantly their short term memory!
My goal is to have at least 50% of the Memory Care population working individually and in the group sessions.
The AL residents are also doing great. We have a resident who is an amputee who is doing beautifully with the touch screen by using her knuckle. She is bragging to her family and she spent two hours on the computer the other day. Another AL resident who was a MENSA member is amazing at WORDJUMBLE and SYNONYMS. I just finished a session where we had three “walk-ins” during some 1-on-1 sessions today, we logged them in and now they are hooked. It is catching fire!
The independent residents love MVM. They tell me – “Wow, we thought this was going to be easy games but we see that these brain exercises can really get challenging.” Most popular among the IL residents are the higher levels of TAKE 2, SCRAMBLE and STRINGS. They also like HOUSE OF CARDS because it requires strategizing. I see them spending much time on Web-surf activity - reading Web-MD and the Wall Street Journal regularly. More and more of them are using MVM on their personal computers at their apartments.
How are you using MVM in your marketing efforts?
We make sure to bring all prospects to the brain gym or the theatre on our tours. Many times they see residents on the computers or in a lesson and they are very impressed. On Dec. 15 we are doing a family night where families will be doing MVM activities. A lot of the independents are taking their children and grandchildren to the brain gym and are showing them how they are using My Vigorous Mind.
We invited our referral sources for a presentation of MVM at the theatre and that was extremely successful. They were very impressed with the broad range of cognitive skills it trains.
What are your goals with the program going forward?
Our goal is to have 60% of the residents trained on Vigorous Mind by the end of February. Regular group sessions are now part of our weekly calendar for both the IL/AL neighborhoods and the MC neighborhood. We are starting an MVM Club in January for group competitions.
I have worked with a competitors brain fitness program at the community I was at and MVM is a much more comprehensive and workable program. I see the long term benefits being tremendous!
This is so much whole wheel of wellness concept. You have to make your body move but you have to move your brain too and the socializing is great too. MVM has really brought the staff and the residents together.
Can you please tell us about your senior center?
Our senior center is a multi-purpose facility that services seniors in the greater West Hartford community. We get about 500 people through our doors every day. We offer fitness, educational, social services, health and wellness, day trips, overnight trips and we are a nutrition site – we offer hot meals. So there is something for everyone.
When did you begin using My Vigorous Mind (MVM)?
We had our grand opening of our “Stay Sharp Computer Training Center” in the fall. We were able to secure a grant from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and from a local businessman – Mr. Stanly Frank. The grant enabled us to purchase seven touch screen computers and a license for My Vigorous Mind. We are also able to offer wireless connectivity in the center now. We started offering MVM in October.
Who among the staff participated in the training and who works with the residents?
We formed a committee that consisted of 6-8 senior center staff and volunteers who were trained. Of those, three became active instructors who are teaching classes. Anne-Paul is our main instructor.
Please describe how the software is used at Elmwood Senior Center
We started with four-week classes – twice a week for an hour. We found out that we can cover the material in six sessions so we now give three-week classes twice a week an hour at a time. We sometimes do longer classes of 90 minutes and shorten the duration of the course. We use the PowerPoint presentations from Vigorous Mind for the training. We have at least one class going at a time. So far we completed five classes and the sixth is underway. We tried offering classes on weekends but there was no interest. We may try again in the fall. The average age of participants is mid seventies-early eighties. We have a father-daughter couple who come together and we have couples who come to classes together. Some people have extensive computer experience and experience with playing mind games. Others have no computer experience at all. We open the computer room twice a week for people who completed classes and who wish to practice. We plan on expanding that significantly. We offered local senior-living communities the use of the computer room and they may come for classes. We have a special relationship with a men’s club – the Regents – we let them use our facility for meetings and they give us a stipend. We invited them to a presentation about My Vigorous Mind by Avi Nevel (The local Vigorous Mind representative) and forty men came. It was very successful. Five men – new to the Senior Center - chose to join an MVM class and they will begin in March.
Do seniors have to pay for the classes? How much?
Seniors pay $12 (members) and $15 (non members).
What activities have you found are most popular?
We focused the training only on the Brain Fitness and the Mind Games modules for now. Some people like the language activities, others like numbers, some like hand eye coordination.
We have not begun group activities. We are excited about the coming new version because we know that we will be able to offer a lot of new features.
How do you market MVM to the senior community?
We have a newsletter that goes to every senior and there was a full page on MVM there. We have posters in the town, we did press releases, and we have MVM featured on the town’s list serve. There is an ad that goes to a local magazine and we offer coupons for free demonstrations. We have a brochure of the center and we list the classes on our brochure. We plan on using Brain Awareness week to draw people’s attention to our Stay Sharp Computer Training Center. Through these efforts we attracted quite a few people to those classes including new members who never came to the senior center before.
What are your goals with the program going forward?
We want to increase participation in classes and we want to increase volunteer participation. We plan to introduce group activities with MVM. We also want to expand the offering using the features of the new version. Our goal is to get our computer room to be used all the time.
What would be your advice to senior centers who wish to introduce brain wellness activities?
Gina: First: Get the MVM software. We did our market research and found that this program was
the best at getting information to the seniors, challenging them, and most importantly, being fun. Invest in the program. It is not expensive for what you are getting. It is cutting edge and makes our senior center top in the field. We had very few glitches and they were fixed instantly. Avi Nevel’s service has been phenomenal. Second: Expose as many people in the community – seniors, family members, staff, volunteers, etc. - as possible. Third: Identify a dedicated staff person or volunteer for the program and computer room. We have such a wide variety of programs (hundreds) and MVM needs a champion to promote it. Smaller centers or those that don’t offer as many programs would probably draw much more attention and interest by introducing MVM.
What is your overall impression of how seniors use MVM?
Anne-Paul: MVM is a wonderful program for seniors. I watch their faces - they get hooked on the exercises. There is a lot of interaction and a lot of laughter. Senior centers will really benefit from having MVM.