How to bring cognitive stimulation to homes in rural areas
In cities and densely populated areas, there is a wide range of clinics and professionals who offer rehabilitation or cognitive stimulation. However, more remote areas and small towns usually lack this types of offerings. It is difficult for people in rural areas to access quality cognitive stimulation services in a clinic or at home and they are generally forgotten.
Main problems for intervention in rural areas
Just as in cities, small towns also have individuals with cognitive impairments, dementia, after-effects of a stroke, or those seeking to engage in cognitive stimulation for active aging.
Services for these people are usually scarce:
- Clinics are in cities which are far away, therefore weekly therapy is not feasible.
- The professionals cannot go to the patients homes due to the distance. Even if a clinic offers home sessions, it is likely to be too far away for them to attend because of the time and resources involved.
- Patients do not have transportation to the therapy center.
Making cognitive stimulation more accessible
There are a number of possible ways for patients who live farther away to have access to quality cognitive stimulation intervention:
- Provide transportation to the clinic
- Train caregivers and family members in the use of cognitive stimulation apps and platforms.
- Make more occasional home visits.
- Conduct online sessions by video call.
- Use virtual rehabilitation software that allows to remotely schedule home exercises from the clinic.
Solutions such as video calls or offering transportation to the center may be of interest
Key features to consider for remote cognitive stimulation
Internet access
In some areas, internet access is very restricted. Depending on the platform or software used, patients won’t have a strong enough internet connection to complete the therapy. Likewise, therapy by video call may not be feasible or of high quality.
With the Rehametrics Cognitive Home software, the patient only needs an internet connection at the beginning of a new set of activities scheduled by the professional, and when the sessions of the week or month have been completed to upload the results.
If the healthcare professional, for example, schedules a series of activities for 4 weeks, the patient will be able to perform these exercises during the 4 weeks without the need for internet access. Once this period is over, they simply have to find an internet access point for a few minutes and upload the results to the cloud. The healthcare professional will now be able to view the results and reports generated.
Software features
- Personalized Activities: Facilitate the creation of individual profiles to customize activities according to the cognitive needs of each user.
- User-friendly interface: Intuitive and easy-to-use design, with clear instructions and interactive exercises that encourage user interest and motivation.
- Access to Resources: Offer access to a wide range of resources, games and exercises designed to activate different cognitive areas.
Monitoring therapy
By not seeing the patient in person, it is more difficult to follow their progress. It is necessary for rehabilitation software to gather and report information on their progress.
An effective method to track progress is by having the software produce regular reports that display each user’s performance and progress in cognitive stimulation exercises.
Use of cognitive stimulation at home.
Taking all these factors into account, neurorehabilitation professionals will be able to carry out more sessions, to more patients, regardless of their geographical location and without patients having to leave their homes or therapists making home visits. This leads to an improvement in the quality of the intervention and a better quality of life for the patients being treated.
