Reason Refill Rapidshare. Maintaining or building manual dexterity is an important part of health at any age. However, it can be an especially important concern for seniors since they often lose manual dexterity, which allows us to use our hands effectively.

Feb 13, 2009. Journal of Hand Therapy Home. Selecting operators for fine manual tasks: a study of the O'Connor Finger Dexterity Test and the Purdue Pegboard. P.J., Bakker, J., Terwindt, S., Franssen, M., van Riel, P. Sequential occupational dexterity assessment (SODA): a new test to measure hand disability. Nonetheless, postural control and eye-hand coordination are linked functionally. For example, a stable platform is required for precise manual control tasks (e.g. Handwriting) and thus such skills often cannot develop until the child is able to sit or stand upright. This raises the question of the strength of the empirical.

A senior’s independence and ability to care for himself or herself and complete daily tasks strongly depend on this basic skill. Help your senior loved one build up manual dexterity by practicing the following exercises recommended. Tying and Fastening Procure some items of clothing with various types of fasteners including shoelaces, overalls, buttons, snaps, zippers, and Velcro. Have your senior loved one practice manipulating these closures until he or she can open and close each type with ease. Depending on your senior loved one’s level of dexterity, you may need to start with and perfect only one type of fastener at a time before working on the next one. Work on this exercise in short bursts for no more than ten minutes at a time to prevent frustration or overexertion. Playing with Sand To increase your senior loved one’s fine motor skills and the dexterity in each finger, have him or her practice tracing letters and words into a bowl or plate of sand.

If you don’t have natural sand nearby, you can get some from a craft store. Have your loved one practice writing both letters and words. You can even have your loved one incorporate symbols. Don’t forget to encourage him or her to practice writing in the sand using the non-dominant hand and use more than the pointer finger, as well.