This year’s Gathering was a day for optimism and hope, for coming together to talk about brains and how to help them stay happy and healthy at all ages and stages.
We had a lovely and lively mix of people who joined us once again at the Fisherrow Centre in Musselburgh, including:
- People with experience of living with dementia or being a care-partner joined us from the Musselburgh Meeting Centre, Musselburgh Friendship Group and Alzheimer Scotland’s D Cafe
- Community groups including the Hollies Community Hub, the Community Council, Musselburgh Area Partnership and Support from the Start
- Pupils and staff from Musselburgh Grammar School, Musselburgh Library and the ELC Countryside Rangers
- People from Day Centres, East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership and East Lothian Council.
Professor Alan Gow: Thinking about brain health
We were delighted to welcome Professor Alan Gow from Heriot Watt University to get us thinking about thinking.
How thinking changes over time
Alan told us how different thinking skills change as we age. We tend to focus on memory problems more as we age, but we have many different thinking skills and all of them are affected by ageing in difference ways. For example, word skills build over the lifespan and older people are often better at mental arithmatic than younger people. On the other hand, younger people are usually quicker to process information and have quicker reaction times. Older people may be a bit slower but can react quickly using their knowledge and experience of how things work. Very reassuring for us all!
How we manage day to day relies on much more than memory, it also relies on the skills and experience we acquire as we go through life. Alan talked about driving. If someone steps out in front of a car, a new driver may drive faster, relying on fast reactions to stop in time. An older person may drive slower but has the experience to anticipate a problem and how to deal with it, counter-balancing slower reaction times. Both ages hopefully avoid the accident, but do so by behaving in different ways.
We heard about 2 different types of thinking skills we all have:
Fluid skills help us deal with new problems, and include reaction time and speed of thinking. These skills develop quickly up to adolesence so we can cope with a world full of lots of new experiences. They peak in our early 20s on average and then gradually slow down as we gain experience to draw on.
Crsytallised skills are the ones we learn through education hard and fixed, they take longer to develop and some may only develop as we age. Things we develop from past learning and experience – knowledge, facts, how things work. They also include attention and focus. Now we know more about the world we can see what might come next and how to resolve a problem.
As we age, there’s a a shift in the skills we have and how we use them as we go round the world.
What factors influence our thinking skills
So what are the factors that influence our thinking skills? What can we do to hold onto the skills that help us live independently for as long as possible, doing the things that matter to us and who we are? Alan explained there isn’t one single ingredient, despite what the newspapers might tell us! But the good news is that there are many things we can do that can make a difference.
How we age is affected by many things, some can’t be changed, but there are things we can do that can reduce the risks. A review of evidence in the Lancet listed the risk factors for dementia that can be influenced:
- Managing our chlosterol levels, diabetes, blood pressure and weight
- Avoiding damage to the brain (eg trauma) and promoting good mental health (eg avoiding depression)
- Reducing environmental pollution for all and linked to specific jobs
- Keeping our eyes and ears health, and getting our hearing and eyesight tested and treated
- Ideally never start smoking or drinking and if we do, but down
There are also things that affect our quality of life and how we live, things that are personal, meaningful and valuable to us. These are social and educational and matter for our health and well being thoughout our lives:
- Connecting socially with people that matter to us and where there is a meaningful connection. There’s no magic number, some people like lots of friends, others not many, we’re all different
- Being active – not heavy intense activity (unless we enjoy it!), we need to make small changes that get us moving and break up periods of sitting.
- Education and learning – at all ages. When we’re younger, education is really important for building firm foundations, but education and learning help at all ages.
What we can do to improve our brain health
The good news is there are lots of things we can do to support our brain health, and the trick is to do small things that add up into a big difference. Alan called this ‘marginal gain’. We should pick the changes that work for us, that are meaningful to us, bring us pleasure and make our lives better. Eddie might find learning a new language really sparks his interest, epsecially when he can meet up with like minded folks and share learning. Whereas Sue might enjoy walking the hills and being out and about in nature with the dogs.
We designed the Gathering to talk about different activities that we know can support better brain health and make life sweet. Our ‘Happy Brains Workshops’ and bring us together to talk about what works for us and get new ideas – social connections and learning together.
Happy Brain Workshops
We then all went had workshop tables to look at different activities or projects that explore different activities that are good for brain, body and soul:
- Playing with colour
- Why we love gardening
- A bit of a do
- Let’s play
- Talking about socialising
- Healthy eating and staying active
- Younger brains
Playing with Colour – Alison Connell – “I’ve just discovered that green’s not my favourite colour!”
Alison organised a hands-on workshop where people played with colour. The group used specially designed coloured frames looking at the world through different colured lenses. They mixed and matched colours and shades creating new colours, playing. The workshop incuded the chance to explore how different colours can affect what a room looks like. Alison has designed a jigsaw room for people to look at how different shades, colours and contract work together and you can mix and match finding the blend that works for you.
- Playing with colour and playing with words
- Fantastic colour schemes – made by me!
- How important play is in life
- Important to look at the future
Why we love gardening – Kate Allan – “Gardening with Gran”
Kate is running a ‘Garden project’ in Musselburgh, working with groups across the community to develop community gardens and gardening. Kate asked people to think about: What the word ‘garden’ means to me, and there was no shortage of ideas. Gardens mean nature, sanctuary, a nice feeling, working, well being.
Why gardens matter:
- The importance of growing food and knowing where food comes from
- Memories of working in the harvest, time off school to pick tatties and gardening with Gran
- A release from worries, nurturing oursleves and the planet
- A chance to develop skills and keep learning
- Working together, partnership, a network of gardens and gardeners
- Enjoyment, a passion, competition
- Giving back, helping
- Magic, guerilla gardening, chance seeding
In the feedback we heard about garden stories, the Meeting Centre Tattie crop and the garden and beehives at Musselburgh Grammar School. Musselburgh Area Partnership gave Musselburgh Grammar School funding for beehives and Barista training – could that be a new project?
A bit of a do – Victoria Bianchi – “Still dancing”
Let’s Play – Jennifer McKay – “Walking my dogs – woof woof!”
There were lots of ideas and creative expression in this group, they certainly nourished their neurones! There were lots of ideas to choose from – spending time with friends and family, cooking, gardening, walking the dog, drawing, sleeping and of course play. The group created their healthy brain, full of things that bring joy, personal meaning and connection and lots of drawings.
“Our brains light up when we are engaged and make up makes us use our skills and develop new ones.”
Talking about socialising – Fiona Barrett – “The power of connection when you meet people”
There was a lot of conversation about how important it is to stay connected to people, to make new friends and get together with friends old and new. There were lots of different things people did together, we are all unique and socialise in different ways. The group agreed that there are many ways to be social and it’s an important way of being ourselves and showing different aspects of who we are. Some people liked to go out in the day time, others in the evening in – we’re all different!
It can be hard to socialise. People don’t always know what’s available or have opportunities that appeal to them. Some people didn’t feel confident or worried about the cost or lacked transport. People don’t ‘pop in’ any more and it can be hard to find the motivation.
Healthy eating – April Govan – “The Tatties we grew and ate at the Meeting Centre were great”
There was a lot of chat about food – of course! What we like to eat, and how we try to eat healthily. Some people had a favourite casserole, someone else liked a crunchy tasty Caesar Salad. Another person liked cheese – any kind of cheese.
There was a discussion about the Mediterranean diet and whether that was a good was to stay healthy and also how what we eat affects us in different ways. The Mediterranean diet includes lots of vegetables, fruit, beans and whole grains and not too much meat and sweet sugary foods. A healthy diet also helps us maintain a healthy weight and reduce the risk of conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, which can affect brain health.
Young people – Dominika Gadomski – ‘We want to be with the friends we’ve made at the Meeting Centre!”
We were delighted to be joined by pupils from Musselburgh Grammar School who have been coming along to the Meeting Centre and have formed strong relationships. The pupils started a conversation on their own table about things they did to stay healthy and captured a very wide range of things that made them feel good. These are captured in this word cloud.
The young people decided they wanted to mix in with the other groups and be part of all the conversations – to be with the friends they had made. Everyone was delighted and the mix of ages and stages made conversations even richer and better.
What we’ve learnt together?
At the end of the morning we shared our conversations and what the important things were for us.
- There are lots of fun and meaningful ways we can help our brains that make life better
- There are many different ways of being social and lots of possibilities that excite us
- Quality meaningful connections are really important for our brains and help us respect and care for each other, they make us all feel good
- It’s not always easy to do what is good for us – to have the confident or means to go out or the ability to make changes. It can be hard to make ourselves take that first step
- Play is really important – being creative, experiment and learn, it’s a human right
- We’re still the same inside but our choices and preferences can change – some people want to go clubbing in the afternoon!
Reflections from Alan
Alan thanked everyone for such a lively and creative morning. We’d come up with great ideas and plans but we’ve also done things that are good for our brains too. We’ve had positive and meaningful social connections – lively conversations! And explored new ideas and activities and how they can benefit us. We’d also learnt more about our community. And had fun.
Alan reminded us that this is the start of a conversation. Anyone interested can can contact Sue (sue@dfel.org.uk) or carry on the conversation at a new ‘brain hub chat’ at The Hollies, 10.30 – 12 on Wednesday mornings.
Ann Burnett, Author – A last journey
After lunch, we were joined by Ann Burnett a writer from Haddington who cared for her husband Bill who lived with dementia. Ann told her story to a researcher and realised she had a book. Age Scotland supported Ann to write her book and get it published. Anne read from the book and told us some of her and Bill’s stories. You’ll have to read the book to find out more!
“A touching, funny and heart-rending memoir from award winning writer, Ann Burnett, on love, life and death.
Dementia. It wasn’t what the couple expected at all. They had ‘imagined themselves doddering along till their eighties’ but dementia had other ideas. Inveterate travellers, living abroad and experiencing life in different countries, they suddenly became confined to their home because of dementia and lockdown. With a prognosis of eighteen months left of life and the deterioration of her life partner of fifty-five years, Ann struggled to care for Bill. She battled against bureaucracy, her own sheer exhaustion, and an NHS suffering from austerity and the pandemic, until Bill’s death. After, she found herself making a new life and, with a lightness of touch and a humorous approach, telling their story in A Last Journey in memory of Bill.” https://lumphananpress.co.uk/product/a-last-journey-by-ann-burnett/
Fond Farewells
We ended the day with lots of thank yous and a feeling we’d had some quality brain time. A big thank you to:
- The Musselburgh Meeting Centre Members and Team for all the preparation work to make the day such a success;
- Prof Alan Gow our guest speaker, who helped us understand about brain health and get ideas for our personal and shared projects
- Our workshop facilitators for creating great conversations that we can build into actions
- The Fisherrow team for the venue and ensuring we have chairs and tables
- The Filling Station for yet another yummy lunch
and last but not least, everyone who came along, shared ideas, stories and experience and made it a special day
Thank you!
Sue