Sports Stir the Soul
The UK charity Sporting Memories was set up specifically for people to connect with their past, rekindle memories, keep the brain active and socialize with other sports fans. One of its co-founders, Tony Jameson-Allen, said that recalling great sporting moments can help tackle dementia, depression and loneliness. "Sport unites communities and generations; it stirs the soul and can reawaken powerful emotions. Every week we witness the positive impact recalling great sporting moments has on the physical and mental well-being of our group members, many of whom live with dementia." Another co-founder, Michael White, who runs sessions in Scotland, said the impact the meetings have on participants prove the concept works. He recalls, for instance, a quiet, reluctant member of the day center called Bill. He came out of his shell only after the Sporting Memories group started up. He was shown soccer photographs from the 1940s and 50s. This stimulated his memory and he started talking about his life as a soccer player. It turned out he had played for the Scottish national team no less. Up until then nobody in the center had any idea about his sporting career. Mr. White said that Bill's reaction was the proof he needed to use sporting images to trigger memories. "I only had to show Bill a picture...and we were off. It was simply amazing to watch."Remembering Clearly, 60 Years Later
John MacKinnon is chaplain to a professional soccer club in Scotland and is involved with the Sporting Memories program in the local community. "We're finding they can recount and recall stuff that's meant a lot and it's still there, and out it comes, and you see the smile and you see the joy -- you see the remembrance," he said. "It's amazing the guys that come in here who can name the team line-ups of their given team from 1958/59." The wife of an attendee summed up the importance of the Sporting Memories program to her husband: "He loves coming to these sessions. He told his brother these clubs are his whole life -- and that's what gets him through, I think." Possibly the main lesson here is that we could draw out some dementia patients, and reengage them, simply by talking about the things they were passionately interested in when young. I wonder if friends, relatives and caregivers do enough of that.- https://pressfrom.info/uk/lifestyle/health/-361649-older-people-and-dementia-patients-should-re-watch-classic-sporting-fixtures-from-the-past-to-stimulate-their-memories.html
- https://www.sportingmemoriesnetwork.com/news/watching-football-can-be-good-for-your-health
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/get-inspired/34474848
