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22ndCenturyMedia.com active aging
22nd century media | October 10, 2019 | 11
Spotlight on a business changing
the way we support seniors with dementia
Name of Business:
Fit Minds
Name of Chicago
Leadership:
Ann James Harvey
What services does Fit
Minds offer:
Fit Minds provides
one-on-one and group
cognitive stimulation programming
for seniors and
senior living communities.
Fit Minds’ certified
coaches meet regularly
with seniors to provide
cognitive stimulation lessons,
supporting what research
tells us about the
brain’s ability to build
resilience and create
new neuron pathways to
prevent memory loss.
Why is cognitive
stimulation important?
Research suggests when
we stop engaging in cognitively
complex tasks,
we lose synaptic connections
in our brain. Connections
that are not used
are deleted in something
researchers call “synaptic
pruning.”
At the same time, we
lose that assumed socialization
and competitive
drive that kept
us on our toes in “the office.”
It is all too easy
to do what is familiar
and not challenge your
brain with new content
and to stop “old” tasks
we used to have to do
daily.
What attracted you to the
work?
1. Mission – We believe
in supporting seniors to be
all they can be. Dementia
changes relationships. It
does not end them.
2. Track Record – Fit
Minds has a stellar reputation
of impact in Canada
and Florida.
3. Price Point – Affordable
price point
4. Monthly reporting to
track cognitive levels and
engagement
In addition, people are
searching for substantive
ways to support loved
ones with dementia. I hear
it from personal friends
to business colleagues
to senior living home
executives and board
members.
How did you get involved
with Fit Minds?
Fit Minds’ CEO Janet
Knupp is a former
colleague and longtime
friend. Janet saw the
benefits of the program
when her own mother had
coaching three times a
week in Tampa, Fla. Impressed
with its impact,
she brought Fit Minds to
the United States.
The Fit Minds program
originated in Canada,
where Fit Minds programming
is in 25 percent of
senior living communities.
With my background as
a social worker and my experience
working with Janet
in other mission-based
organizations, we decided
to launch it in Chicago. I
became a certified coach
in July and already have
clients at The Vi, Lake
Forest Place and private
residences.
What is the most
rewarding aspect of this
work?
When I walk into their
homes and their faces light
up with a smile. And when
they say thank you and
tellme it was fun.
Fit Minds help seniors
refocus on what they can
do versus feeling hopeless
after a diagnosis of dementia.
Think of it as a personal
trainer of the mind. We
help rebuild confidence in
what seniors can do.
Submitted by Fit Minds.
For more information, call
(813) 282-8282 or visit www.
fitminds.net.
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