How can we “enjoyably prevent” the decline of our minds and physical strength as we age? This is a big challenge for seniors. The hint to solving this problem was found in the cooperation of a nursing home and a supermarket. In general, simply staying confined to a nursing home will accelerate the aging of the brain in a broad sense. The nursing home care recipient moved around the store in a special cart, trying to get what he wanted. There was a strong desire to do so. The nursing home care recipient learned the joy of a supermarket that he could shop freely. This activity brought about a positive trend in both physical movement and brain vitality.
This attempt contributed to maintaining the nursing home care recipient’s motor and calculation abilities, as well as spatial cognitive function in the store, while shopping. Even elderly people who were reluctant to participate in rehabilitation in the nursing home began to actively engage in practice in the facility using the supermarket’s special cart. What this attempt shows is that activities that involve “moving your body,” “using your brain,” and “interacting with others” positively influence the behavior of seniors. If a community has a system that allows people to do activities that involve “moving your body,” “using your brain,” and “interacting with others” without spending money, the health of the local people will improve. If health standards improve, medical and nursing care costs can be saved. If the saved funds are used to revitalize the community, it will become an even more livable place.
There is a “head-tail law” regarding the development of babies and the “progression of aging.” This law states that children develop from the head, then the extremities, the feet. For the elderly, the feet begin to weaken. When they weaken, they will, without exception, be unable to walk. Whether it’s the elderly or terminal cancer patients, aging always begins from the feet. Walking is a light aerobic exercise. This walking increases the amount of blood circulating in the periphery, which has the effect of preventing disease. Blood has the function of transporting and supplying oxygen and various nutrients to each organ. It is said that walking 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day is effective. If you want to do it, you should exercise about 8,000 steps a day, and it would be even more effective if you could include about 5 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise in that exercise. It has been reported that if you do this moderate-intensity exercise for more than 5 minutes, the incidence of depression will be reduced to less than one-tenth. By the way, moderate exercise is exercise that makes it a little difficult to talk to friends while walking. We want to move our legs and use our brains to live a fulfilling retirement.
