Retirement facility provides cognitive therapy to seniors

Roger Kunz hasn’t been a resident at the Fairwinds Sand Creek retirement community for long. Although readjusting to senior living can be difficult for most, Kunz says he’s making the best of it.

“I’ve been incarcerated here for six months now,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m still trying to see what I can get away with and what I can’t.”

While Mr. Kunz is full of humor, he firmly believes people his age should keep a sharp mind.. He says he’s working to keep his wit by taking part in cognitive therapy.

“It’s helped me quite a bit. Just the little bit that I have been on it,” he said.

Fairwinds Sand Creek management company, Leisure Care, has established a new relationship with Rosetta Stone. The company says it’s the first in the nation to make these programs available to their nearly 6,000 residents free of charge.

“We encourage out residents to stay as independent as possible. They need to stay engaged and enjoy life to the fullest,” said activities director Julie Hendrix. “It’s important for our residents to stay active, whether it’s physically or mentally. It’s really true, that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”

Fit Brains is an engaging way to build cognitive stimulation in six major brain areas, including: focus, memory, speed, logic, visual and language. Residents are encouraged to exercise these areas for at least ten minutes a day. The games are individually personalized to increase the difficulty and complexity over time.