COVID-19 has left some of the state’s most vulnerable people – nursing home and assisted living residents – struggling to keep their time occupied. They can’t get visits from family members and they’re restricted from taking trips to the outside world.
But never fear. Liberty National Bank in Lawton has a plan, according to bank Marketing Manager Cindy Coleman.
“This is a situation close to our heart and we wanted to do something to help,” she said. “After listening to some of their stories and discovering how limited some of the library space was in the facilities, we came up with the idea to create a book exchange program for the residents.”
One resident at Lawton’s Ten Oaks Assisted Living has reportedly read every book in the facility’s library during the quarantine, and wished she had more books to read.
Liberty National currently has six facilities in Lawton, Chickasha and Duncan signed up to exchange books, which gives residents the opportunity to read new material from a variety of genres including westerns, romance, mysteries and biographies. The bank has requested its employees also bring in books they would like to donate.
“Our plan is to find out what the specific need is to that facility, and if they want 50 books, we will take them 50 books in exchange for 50 of their books to be added to the stockpile for the next facility in need. Hopefully, this will enable them to keep new books at all times for their residents,” Coleman said.
Kate Bell, activities director at Ten Oaks, said 100 books were exchanged at that facility last week.
Residents “are excited to get them (new books),” she said. “This allows them to come check out a book whenever they want, and it will be something they haven't read. A lot of them wanted something new and fresh. These books are an escape from reality for them.”
Reading also helps older people protect cognitive health, maintain concentration, reduce stress, improve memory and provides opportunities to connect with others who have similar interests in literature, according to a blog posted on sunriseseniorliving.com.
According to the blog, people who read every day are constantly learning new things. That increase in knowledge helps give the brain the workout it needs to stay healthy.
“Liberty National Bank is excited to be able to provide this additional resource for the activity directors of these facilities because we know how challenging it must be for them to come up with things to help entertain residents, especially during these unusual times,” Coleman said.
Studies of both men and women, mostly in their 80s, show mental challenges like reading and crossword puzzles may help to preserve brain health and stave off symptoms of Alzheimer’s in old age, according alzinfo.org. Researchers found that people who participated in mentally challenging activities most often, both early and late in life, had a slower rate of decline in memory compared to those who did not engage in such activities. Even when people showed signs of brain damage to their brains, mental stimulation seemed to help protect memory and thinking skills, accounting for about 14 percent of the difference in decline beyond what would be expected, the website states.