Board Games Among Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients Experience (GAME Project)

Overview

Nowadays, on geriatric centres, cognitive decline used to be prevented by pen and paper exercises (Calero García \& Navarro Gonzalez, 2006). However, as Lampit et al. (2014) suggest, studies based on the efficacy and effectiveness of new cognitive-based interventions in order to improve these cognitive processes are fundamental (Lampit et al., 2014). Cognitive-based interventions are interventions that directly or indirectly try to improve cognitive processes (Chiu et al., 2017). Between the different kinds of cognitive-based interventions, cognitive training permits stablish randomized controlled trials. Cognitive training consists of repeating during a concrete time a standardized set of tasks in order to maintain or improve one or some cognitive processes. Meta-analysis studies have shown that computerized cognitive training can improve in a moderate size some cognitive processes in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia (Hill et al., 2017) and without those diagnoses (Lampit, Hallock, \& Valenzuela, 2014; Chiu et al., 2017). Although it seems that computerized training is effective, safe and secure, it is important to note the social component of the definition of health (OMS, 1948). Chang, Wray \& Lin (2014) found that social relationships predict the use of leisure activities and this predict a better physical health and wellbeing psychological. In fact, a comparative study found that those elderly people that have played board games have a 15% lower risk of having dementia diagnose and problems related with memory (Dartigues et al., 2013). To sum up, the aim of this research project is to test the effectiveness of a cognitive training based on modern board and card games in elderly people with a diagnose of mild-cognitive impairment in comparison to do cognitive paper and pencil tasks or in a wait-list comparison group.