Cognitive rehabilitation in mental health: activities for people with mental illness

People with mental illness experience impairments in cognitive function, as well as difficulties with concentration, decision-making, or planning. Therefore, at NeuronUP we offer rehabilitation to work on the cognitive decline associated with mental health disorders with activities that train sustained attention, spatial relations, working memory, reasoning and episodic memory, among others.

1. Organize the Bookcase

The first activity for people with mental illness is Organize the Bookcase.

What does it involve?

This activity consists of copying the position of the model’s objects, bearing in mind that the model to follow is shown as a mirror image, so the user will have to copy it in reverse.

For example, in the following image there may be different types of objects on the shelf, so the user will have to select and reposition them until they find the correct option.

What does this activity train?

This NeuronUP activity trains sustained attention, spatial relations, selective attention and hemineglect.

Play by levels

Remember that you can choose the level of difficulty you want to adapt the activity to the needs and abilities of each user. The higher the level, the more difficult it will be to copy the positions of the objects.

Activity customization

General aspects

You will be able to customize: the number of exercises (total, passed, acceptable and failed), the maximum time, the inactivity warning and the timer.

Parameters

As a professional you will be able to customize the game according to each user’s age and personal abilities . In this regard, you can choose:

• The size of the matrix,
• the number of options.

2. Form words by combining letters

Another activity for people with mental illness is Form words by combining letters.

What does it involve?

The user will have to form words by combining different letters and syllables.

For example, in the following image the word “glass” has been formed using the 3 syllables below. In this particular worksheet the user must form two words in total.

What does this activity train?

This worksheet trains working memory, flexibility and vocabulary.

Play by levels

This working memory activity has five levels of difficulty: basic, easy, medium, difficult and advanced. As the level advances, complexity will increase.

Format

This worksheet is also available on paper.

3. Organizing a timetable

What does it involve?

In this worksheet for people with mental illness, the user must organize various tasks in a planner based on the available time.

For example, in the following worksheet, the user must place the 4 tasks from the top into the slots that appear in the schedule in a darker tone.

What does this activity train?

This worksheet trains time estimation and planning.

Play by levels

This time estimation activity has four levels of difficulty: basic, easy, medium and difficult. As the level advances, complexity will increase.

Format

This worksheet is also available on paper.

4. Interview

What does it involve?

This activity for cognitive rehabilitation in mental health consists of remembering the order in which the journalists asked to speak and reproducing it.

For example, if there are 5 journalists, the user has to remember the order in which they asked for their turn, with the one on the far left being the first.

What does this activity train?

This NeuronUP activity trains episodic memory and working memory.

Play by levels

Remember that you can choose whichever difficulty level you want in order to fit the activity to each user’s needs and abilities. The harder the level, the more difficult it is to remember the order of the journalists.

Activity customization

General aspects

You can personalize this exercise for cognitive rehabilitation in mental health: the number of exercises (total, passed, acceptable and failed), the maximum time, the inactivity warning, the stopwatch and the number of attempts.

Parameters

• the number of items;
• total duration.

5. Pick Up your Baggage

What does it involve?

The user, in this activity for people with mental illness, has to select only the suitcases matching the model from a set of moving luggage.

For example, in the following image the user must wait for the correct suitcase to pass along the conveyor belt.

What does this activity train?

This activity for cognitive rehabilitation in mental health trains selective attention, sustained attention, processing speed, working memory and leisure.

Play by levels

Remember that you can choose the level of difficulty you want to adapt the activity to the needs and abilities of each user. The more difficult the level, the harder it will be to select the suitcases.

Activity customization

General aspects

You will be able to customize: the number of exercises (total, passed, acceptable and failed), the maximum time, the inactivity warning and the timer.

Parameters

• Similarity between stimuli,
• the exposure time,
• the number of target stimuli,
• the frequency of the stimuli,
• the quantity of stimuli,
• the correction criterion,
• the total duration,
• the maximum errors.

6. Relate Concepts

What does it involve?

The user has to match up the words that are related to each other.

To make the pairs, they drag the loose words onto the coloured blocks.

What does this activity train?

This worksheet for people with mental illness trains reasoning.

Play by levels

This reasoning activity has five difficulty levels: basic, easy, medium, hard and advanced. Complexity increases as the level goes up.

Format

This worksheet is also available on paper.

7. Correct Behaviours

The last of the NeuronUP activities for people with mental illness that we present is Correct Behaviours.

What does it involve?

The user has to analyse a situation and work out the right way to behave in it.

For example, the user may have to choose between two options in a workplace situation.

What does this activity train?

This worksheet trains social cognition.

Play by levels

This reasoning activity has five difficulty levels: basic, easy, medium, hard and advanced. Complexity increases as the level goes up.

Format

This worksheet is also available on paper.

If you liked this post about cognitive rehabilitation in mental health and activities for people with mental illness, you may also be interested in these NeuronUP articles:

“This article has been translated. Link to the original article in Spanish:”
Rehabilitación cognitiva en salud mental: actividades para personas con enfermedad mental