PLAY ANIMATORS: A TRAINING COURSE TO LEARN HOW TO SUPPORT OLDER PEOPLE IN PLAY

The rise in the average age of the population has increased the focus on interventions that can promote a positive ageing (Jarvis, 2007). Among these strategies, the use of games seems to be successful, as playing games provides an opportunity for socialisation, satisfaction and flow (Nakao, 2019). Actually the verb “to play” is a word that can be easily associated with childhood, but not with all other phases of life. How-ever, we have played so intensively as children that play has become part of our essence, so much so that it is present in everyday life in numerous expressions of our language such as when we say “it's a child's game”, “to play your cards right”, “to put yourself on the line” and many others (D'Urso, 2012). Play is the first tool that humankind uses to explore and learn about the world and is often used during child-hood to foster learning and socialisation with peers (Baumgartner, 2010). The game of bowls and cards used by older people suggests that the characteristics of play (Caillois, 1958) are still enjoyable and cog-nitively stimulating even for older people. In particular our project adopted board games, considering how they can be useful for older peo-ple, helping to reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation, offering opportunities for socialization and connection with family and friends (Fancourt et al., 2021). Board game is a generic term used to describe a game played by plac-ing, moving or removing pieces on a board, using a format in which the pieces are moved according to certain rules on a patterned board. Some-times board games involve answering questions, but they can also in-volve logical tasks, recognising pictures, balancing or assembling pieces, creating stories and recalling previous knowledge. In addition, board games require strategies to be discovered and applied, as well as keeping in touch with the person a player is playing with and paying attention to the way the other team is playing. They can be competitive or cooperative, played by two or more people. In all cases, board games are not just a fun way to spend time, but also powerful tools for engag-ing players in strategic planning, problem-solving, planning, decision making, logical and critical thinking, cooperation, competition, how to deal with mistakes, deferring gratification, all of which sharpen analyt-ical abilities. For these reasons, playing board games can help keep the mind active and promote cognitive health (Ammar, 2024), considering a lifelong perspective on learning as a point of reference (Baltes & Reese, 1984). On the other hand, playing board games requires at least two people, i.e., some kind of social relationship, to come out of isola-tion and loneliness. Playing together means leaving the active role to the other participants, waiting for your turn, and at the same time un-derstanding the rules and actions together. Even in competition, playing board games requires understanding the strategies and goals of others, and thus exercising social skills. Winning or achieving goals in board games triggers the release of dopamine, which reinforces positive be-haviours and increases motivation. The reward system activated by these games promotes a sense of accomplishment and encourages con-tinued engagement. This process not only makes the games more en-joyable, but also increases motivation in other areas of life. Playing games can lead to increased satisfaction and happiness, contributing to overall individuals’ well-being (Guardabassi et at., 2024). Engaging in games can induce a state of "flow", where individuals be-come completely absorbed in the activity, leading to improved mood and quality of life (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990). The flow state is reached when there is a balance between the challenge of the game and the ability to play because the task has a clear and concrete goal and is perceived as affordable, as well as the feedback is immediate and direct, clearly perceptible. To play requires full concentration and adaptation to players, but it doesn't require much effort. Players feel a sense of control over the situation, which allows them to avoid the fear of failure. Atten-tion is focused on the activity and mental energy is concentrated on the task. The quality of time becomes unmeasurable and the duration is al-tered: hours can seem like minutes and seconds like eternity. The use of board games as a strategy to promote positive ageing is sup-ported by all these motivations, and confirmed by researches that indi-cate benefits in cognitive function, emotional satisfaction and sociali-sation. Exploring the literature on this topic provides valuable motiva-tion for using board games with adults and older people, even when they are not in good health (Estrada-Plana et al. 2021). The current proposal arose from the awareness about all these consid-erations, and the request of Auser44, a network of voluntary and social promotion associations. The Auser regional association responded to a call for proposals and was awarded funding to run a course for its mem-bers to become play animators. Auser's aim was to have experts avail-able to promote and plan play events to promote the well-being of older people throughout the region.