Objective: To improve quality of life for Veterans with movement disorders by creating a virtual group using building bricks

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) may cause symptoms that lead to fine motor/dexterity issues, cognitive and mood changes, and social isolation. In the Veteran population, with higher incidence of PTSD, mood disorders, and loneliness, a diagnosis of PD can exacerbate these risks. Cessation of leisure activities was noted by providers to be a trend among Veterans at the Richmond VA PADRECC (Parkinson’s disease research education and clinical center).

Method: Ten Veterans signed up for the pilot group. Veterans were mailed an initial set of building bricks. The meeting format was set-up to be a 60-minute, bi-weekly challenge “show and tell”  where Veterans were assigned a different challenge for each group. At the conclusion of each meeting, the next group’s challenge would be announced as their “homework” and the participants would spend the next few weeks working on their project.  After 4 meetings, an anonymous survey was sent out.

Results: The Veterans did report difficulty at the meetings with builds. They shared the tricks that they had devised to overcome these difficulties. Three Veterans never attended a session. Five Veterans of the seven remaining completed the anonymous survey. Overall, 100 % of Veterans reported high satisfaction with the group. 100% strongly agreed that the group had positively affected their quality of life, provided daytime engagement, and opportunity for cognitive stimulation and socialization.

Conclusion: The format of the group worked well . By providing socialization, cognitive stimulation and engagement, the building brick group has improved quality of life. The Veterans reported difficulty; however,100% reported that they enjoyed the challenging aspect of the group. Many group members reported engaging intergenerational bonding while working with children. 80% of Veterans reported liking the group because they got to work with other Veterans, highlighting the comradery of the Veteran population. The price of building brick sets can be high. The PADRECC received many donated building bricks. This virtual building group will continue to meet and recruit new members. There is talk of working on a larger collaborative group build for exhibition.

Veteran-built item from set

Veteran built item, free-build.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/developing-a-virtual-brick-building-group-for-veterans-with-movement-disorders/