Established as the game's first dedicated website since 2014 - Supporters of The FA
Established as the game's first dedicated website since 2014 - Supporters of The FA
A new study by University of the West of Scotland and Alzheimer Scotland has explored the effects of the sport walking football on men over 70 who are living with dementia.
The first-of-its-kind research, which was conducted over six months at Hampden Park, has found that the activity promoted a range of physical, mental, social and emotional benefits for the participants, who all had varying degrees of dementia.
As well as enabling the men to foster new interactions and build relationships, aspects of the study allowed the participants to create new tangible, emotional memories, for example, winning Player of the Day, while also reminiscing about old memories, such as playing or watching football.
A key element of the research highlighted a change in the men’s behaviour when they were presented with a choice of football kit to wear. Teams such as Celtic, Rangers, Queens Park and Partick Thistle provided team kits for the participants.
Observational data confirmed a clear, positive change in the way the men behaved when wearing the football strips, and volunteers recognised that the use of the kits increased engagement and conversation amongst the men, acting as a prop to promote reminiscence.
Data also showed that the programme provided meaningful benefits to the supporters and carers of the participants. Flexible options were given to those attending with the participants, where they could stay and watch the games, have time in the facility café with other carers, or use the free time elsewhere, highlighting the important aspect of carer respite which programmes like this can provide.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430437.2020.1825383
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