Independent Senior & Assisted Living | Social & Physical Activity | Brain Health | Orange & San Diego County, CA
Dad told us his dancing days were over. Now he's dancing every chance he gets. He says he feels like he's on vacation every day.
- R.P. daughter-in-law
LEGACYtm Brain Health
LEGACYtm Brain Health and Memory Care addresses the complex nature of cognitive health. With education and empowering choices, we promote vitality in all of the arenas that contribute to cognitive vigor. Our commitment at VIVA! is to create healthy environments with inviting and engaging options to preserve and promote brain health.
Social Involvement
We are social beings. A healthy social life, engaged and enriched, is as essential as any element in a senior's life. Researchers have found lack of social contact to be a major contributor to cognitive decline. Life in a VIVA! Community is rich with opportunities to connect quietly with a friend, host a family gathering, or join into the lively group interactions that fill the days. Residents and family members often comment on how much their overall affect changes with the daily infusion of companionship and social contact.
Mental Stimulation
"Use it or lose it." This is as true of brain function as it is of muscle and stamina. Reading, doing puzzles, playing cards or board games, learning something new, drawing, painting, creativity in all forms, keeping up with current events, and engaging in meaningful conversations, all of these are protective of brain health. Mental stimulation is woven into the fabric of life at VIVA! Morning exercise often includes updates and conversation about current events. Trivia games with our teen volunteers keeps everyone on their toes!
Physical Activity
Physical exercise has for decades been a standard requirement for cardiovascular fitness and health. Recently, researchers discovered that the same physical activity that preserves our vascular health protects our cognitive well-being. In fact, it has been shown that what is good for the heart is good for the brain. And most important, as we age, is to maintain muscle strength. Muscles have been called "the engines of youth," because they are key in our maintaining balance, mobility, circulation, and overall strength. Having daily exercise 'in house' and with friends encourages many who would not otherwise make the effort.
Lifestyle and Nutrition
Choices of food and drink can play as central a role in brain health as they do in heart health. Here again, the good news is that all the same rules apply. What is good for the heart is good for the brain. Sufficient hydration, a key factor that is often forgotten is emphasized in our daily menu of meals and snacks.
"Nutrient-dense" SuperFoodstm, which deliver the richest source of longevity promoting nutrients are a part of every Fresh & Delicious meal.
Spirituality and Life Purpose
Spirituality often blooms in the retirement years. Slower paced days and fewer demands open up the possibility of deepening or discovering one's inner life. Practices that emphasize "being" over "doing," such as meditation, contemplative prayer, mindfulness, and simple silence bring tremendous benefits of relief of stress, believed to be one of the primary culprits in all degenerative processes, mental, emotional, and physical.
One of the privileges of age is the right to determine one's course. Sometimes this feels lost to a senior, especially with cognitive loss. At a VIVA! Community, there is the option to choose, a little or a lot, something familiar or something new. Nothing is required, but everything is possible.
Sharing the important and breaking news around cognitive health with families, our larger communities, and fellow professionals is part of our mission. VIVA! Communities offers Maintain Your Braintm classes in conjunction with the Alzheimers Association to residents, families, staff, and the local community to promote awareness of the proactive lifestyle choices that promote cognitive health and longevity.
