Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation promotes ‘brain sports’:

Scrabble Bash to be made an annual event

The international medical journal ‘The Lancet’ warns of an imminent dementia epidemic; it reports an alarming figure of one new case every seven seconds around the world. The number of people with dementia, worldwide, is projected to increase to 115.4 million by 2050.

In Sri Lanka, the number of persons affected by Dementia is estimated at 120,000 and is projected to increase to half a million by 2050. Working on the common mandate undertaken by the Alzheimer’s family worldwide, Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation’s (LAF) mission is to create awareness, provide services and support for persons with dementia and their family caregivers and advocate ‘Active Ageing’.

Last month, LAF conducted a Scrabble Bash for the first time, to raise awareness. The event, held at Barefoot on the 14th of November, brought in five Scrabble teams that battled it out for the top spot. Well received by patrons and stakeholders alike, LAF has decided to make the Scrabble Bash an annual event, with the next one scheduled to be held on the 27th of February 2010 at the Dutch Burgher Union.

Scrabble is one of the many ‘thinking’ memory games promoted to stimulate brain activity in order to prevent dementia. A number of studies carried out on such ‘brain sports’ has proven that such mentally stimulating activities in early and middle adulthood are strongly connected to reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease later on in life. Social aspects of such games as Scrabble can reduce loneliness and depression.

The Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation is an Approved Charity and is a registered volunteer based community organization. Founded on the mission “To do all that is possible to improve the quality of life of those with Alzheimer’s and related disorders (dementia) and support their families and carers to cope with the challenges generated by those conditions and advocate ‘Active Ageing’; the Foundation was incorporated in March 2001. LAF currently exists and operates on the generosity of the community of local and international friends and associates - personal and corporate.

LAF has an array of services to serve an extraordinarily growing population of seniors. The establishment of the Dementia Services and Information Centre will provide a Day Care Centre, Professional Training and Educational facilities, Memory and Diagnostic services; Information services; Befriending and Counseling, Mobile services; and shall encourage indigenous research into causes and cures. P. R.