The BLOOM project aims to promote mental well-being and foster social inclusion for older adults through outdoor physical activities.
Recently, we explored neurocognitive stimulation, mental well-being, and social well-being, focusing on activities that support these areas.
Neurocognitive stimulation involves activities like puzzles and memory games to enhance cognitive function and delay neurodegenerative diseases. For adults 55 and older, it helps maintain cognition, improve quality of life, and potentially delay dementia.
Mental well-being includes managing stress, maintaining relationships, and enjoying life. For older adults, it is crucial for overall health, quality of life, and longevity, involving positive emotions, life satisfaction, and purpose.
Social well-being is about being part of a supportive social network. It helps prevent loneliness and isolation through community activities, friendships, and family connections.
This research will serve as the foundation for our upcoming BLOOM programme. We will work on it during the summer, and in the autumn, we will start the pilot phase. Our Portuguese partners visited us in Ljubljana at the end of June to lay the groundwork for the programme.
On Thursday, June 27th, we delved into the mental, cognitive, and social well-being of older adults, shared best practices, and scouted potential outdoor activity spots at Tivoli to promote mental and social well-being. On Friday, June 28th, we laid the foundations for designing our program and explored another possible location for the project.
We’re now creating exercises to boost memory, processing speed, attention, orientation, reasoning, and executive control through outdoor physical activities.
We look forward to sharing more updates as we progress in our efforts to enhance mental and social well-being.
