What would be the most appropriate and effective kind of atmosphere, attitude, and approach to mental exercise for working with older adults? The most important consideration: participants must feel comfortable.

The need for a non-threatening, non-competitive atmosphere during each weekly session was obvious. Participants must be given a chance to prove their mental abilities without being made to feel at risk. Asking for an explanation of anything not understood is encouraged. No one is made to feel inadequate for not understanding. There is no competing to be first with an answer. Participants soon learn that it is easy to relax and perfectly all right to make a mistake or an outrageous guess. It’s okay to share the fun of a weird wrong answer. Everyone will understand and probably laugh along with you.

The interaction that results from this type of group dynamics has produced an atmosphere of family-like relationships, very relaxed, in which all work together, share information and ideas—always with humor and laughter. Group problem solving has become so ingrained that it is often difficult to persuade individuals to solve specific problems alone.

The seating arrangement during MIND WORKS sessions encourages interaction. Everyone sits around tables that form an inverted U. The instructor sits in the opening of the U. In this way, everyone can see and hear everyone else and maintain eye contact. This promotes the feeling of sharing and experiencing activities together.

At the end of each MIND WORKS session, a challenging exercise is presented to each participant. This "homework" is requested (strongly!) and provides on-going mental stimulation. During the week, there are usually telephone calls between problem solvers to check on ideas and answers for problems that were distributed.