New Study Shows that Board Games Can Help Those with Alzheimer's

Update: Fixed the link to the PDF so you do not need to request permission to view.

Here’s some exciting news about board games, they appear to be helpful for people with Alzheimer’s Disease. A new study by Asmodee and Game in Lab has found that when used correctly, board games can help improve the cognitive function and quality of life for patients.

Games should be done on a regular basis, fit the patient’s interest, and be adapted for accessibility (large fonts, ergonomic, etc.) to achieve this. The study lasted over the course of a year and looked at the benefits for 20 patients which is a small sample size, but it should help serve as a jumping point for researchers to dive deeper into the potential in this area.

The study is titled Cognitive – Adaption – Behavior and was conducted by Julie Brousse, Laure Chantepy, and Philippe Robert. There’s even a nifty PDF you can look at with the main takeaways from the study. The full study will be published next month on Game in Lab’s website. Talking about the study, Stéphane Carville of Asmodee said:

Over the past year, board games have enabled us all to play together, in the comfort and tranquillity of our homes, providing some relief, adventure and pleasure. However, we are convinced that playing games harbours greater potential and can play a true educational and even clinical role in our society. Via Asmodee Research, we intend to demonstrate the tremendous impact playing games have on our brains and are delighted to support additional projects which can identify, research and prove new and important ways that games can help society.

As I mentioned before, this study is serving as a jumping point for further research. If you or someone you know is interested in studying the benefits of board games on society, Game in Lab wants to hear your proposals. You can find out more on the official site, but 3-5 research grants (up to 15000€ per project) will be rewarded for short-term (12-18 months) projects. There are two different tracks that you can aim for and at least one of the project’s leaders must be affiliated with a public or private research institution at the time of application and during the project.

• Track 1: any research topic on board games.

• Track 2: research topic on board games related to Youth and Education.