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Seniors at home
Maintaining autonomy, social bonds, prevention of mild cognitive decline.
Structuring the link between cognition and movement, to safeguard autonomy over the long term.
The CREADIAZ® method stimulates the body and the brain together through four inseparable pillars: Verbalisation, Repetition, Emotion and Movement.
CognitionMovementPleasureCareJoyAutonomyInclusionCognitionMovementPleasureCareJoyAutonomyInclusionCognitionMovementPleasureCareJoyAutonomyInclusion
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The 4 pillars of the method.
V · R · E · M, four inseparable levers.
Pillar 01 · Verbalisation
Putting words to action.
Naming each gesture, each movement, each association of words out loud simultaneously engages the motor cortex, the prefrontal cortex and the language areas. This coupling multiplies cognitive anchoring, structures thought and turns the exercise into conscious learning.
Scientific foundation
The joint recruitment of language and motor areas activates Broca's area and the premotor cortex, strengthening memory consolidation by up to +38% compared with an equivalent silent exercise.
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Origin
Born of a wish. The wish to safeguard, for as long as possible, the autonomy of those we love.
It all began with a meeting and a request from the field.
Cédric Diaz had been working for several years in nursing homes and care residences when the CLIC of Cambrai entrusted him with a precise mission: to maintain and stimulate a group of people with Alzheimer's disease, as well as people with disabilities, in partnership with the Papillons Blancs.
From this mission emerged the first sessions, and the name “cognitive gymnastics”.
Then came time on the ground. Sessions, more sessions. Adjustments. Attentive listening. What the practitioners gave back — their successes, their hesitations, their smiles, their progress — became the engine of a transformation: cognitive gymnastics refined itself, structured itself, calibrated itself. It became CREADIAZ®.
Today it is a tested protocol, validated by practitioners themselves, that adjusts to every audience: vulnerable people, autonomous seniors, people with disabilities, people with psychomotor difficulties, people with Alzheimer's disease, related illnesses, neurodegenerative or non-progressive diseases.
The method exists in its current form thanks to all those who have practised it, transmitted it and trusted it. A partnership with a training organisation now allows it to be passed on to professionals in education, health, animation and care.
The founder · CREADIAZ®Fig. 01
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Scientific foundations.
The method invents nothing. It orchestrates what science already knows.
CREADIAZ® builds on what neuroscience has identified as the 4 essential pillars of any lasting learning. These pillars, brought to light by the work of neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene, are mobilised in every session, through simple, accessible gestures filled with positive emotion.
| Pillar (Dehaene) | Definition | CREADIAZ® application |
|---|---|---|
| Attention | Direct and sustain attention on what is being learned. | Each session opens with a cognitive and motor warm-up that captures attention from the very first seconds and sustains it through clear, rhythmic, lively instructions. |
| Active engagement | The learner is an actor, never a spectator. | The practitioner is made an actor in every exercise. They take part, verbalise, anticipate. They are the ones building their autonomy, session after session. |
| Feedback | Feedback consolidates learning. | Feedback is offered throughout the session, focused on successes. Mistakes are never highlighted, never weighed down. The practitioner leaves with the feeling of having succeeded. |
| Consolidation | Repetition and emotion anchor what is learned. | The 4 V.R.É.M. pillars (Verbalisation, Repetition, Emotion, Movement) are mobilised together to durably anchor each piece of learning. Their synergy is what makes the method specific. |
Science has shown that the brain remains plastic throughout life: it continues to create new connections, provided it is stimulated. It is precisely this capacity for adaptation that the CREADIAZ® method seeks to maintain — through movement, language, emotion and repetition.
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The CREADIAZ® protocol
Nine steps. Nothing left to chance.
Each session follows a precise progression, designed to activate, mobilise and connect cognitive functions and motor capacities over the long term. A real engineering of the link between body and brain.
Cross-cutting note
The 4 V.R.É.M. pillars (Verbalisation, Repetition, Emotion, Movement) are present in every step. They form the thread that runs through every session.
The founder · CREADIAZ®Fig. 02
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Activate
Cognitive and motor warm-up. Capturing attention, engaging participants, activating mirror neurons. The body observes, the brain commits.
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Structure
Establishing a guiding thread that gives direction and coherence to the session — landmarks, momentum, logical progression.
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Anchor
Drawing on gestures from everyday life. Mobilising procedural memory. Concrete, transferable learning.
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Lighten
Simple games around semantics. No performance, no assessment — a playful moment, accessible to all.
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Associate
Cognitive stimulation: words, colours, evolving instructions. The brain links varied pieces of information.
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Coordinate
Dual-task work: thinking and acting at the same time. This phase strengthens cognition–movement connections.
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Sequence
Different threads, different movements link together in a progressive logic. The 4 V.R.É.M. pillars consolidate what has been learned.
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Value
Feedback time at the end of the session: together we identify the threads explored, name what has been done, celebrate the successes. A positive moment, never evaluative.
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Connect
A final making-sense — creating a story, associations, collective verbalisation of what has been lived.
Ten years of practice. A protocol that holds because it has been tested in the field, by those who practise it.
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Audiences
Who the method is for.
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Care homes & residences
Stimulating group activities that fit into the activity schedule with no equipment.
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Disability & inclusion
Adaptable exercises for every motor and cognitive profile, valuing autonomy.
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Education & early years
Playful psychomotor stimulation: coordination, concentration, language in children.
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Companies & workplace wellbeing
Active breaks on a chair: stress reduction, MSD prevention, team cohesion.
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Adapted sport
Ideal complement for rehabilitation, return to movement, gentle physical preparation.
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The CREADIAZ® programmes
When everyday gestures meet music.
The CREADIAZ® programmes rest on a simple idea: take gestures everyone knows, functional movements drawn from everyday life, and set them to music in the form of accessible choreographies. Rhythm structures the gesture, music carries the emotion, and cognitive functions are continually engaged: you have to listen, remember the sequence, anticipate the movement, understand the cue. It is this meeting of the familiar and the rhythmic that makes the method both effective and deeply joyful.
A session follows a precise progression: it begins with a cognitive warm-up, then moves through different intensities — dynamic moments, rhythmic movements, gentle movements. This structure unfolds in four complementary expressions.
Cognitive and motor warm-up
Cognitive stimulation through movement. Sequences to memorise, cross-coordination, ongoing verbalisation to maintain executive functions and working memory.
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Positioning
What sets the method apart.
CREADIAZ® is not a gym class. Nor is it a memory workshop. It is an approach designed to make body and brain work together, through a structured protocol.
| Gentle gym | Memory workshop | CREADIAZ® | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motor stimulation | ✓Yes | –No | ✓Yes, structured |
| Cognitive stimulation | –No | ✓Yes | ✓Dual-task |
| Active verbalisation | –No | ~Variable | ✓Core pillar |
| Positive emotional charge | ~Variable | ~Variable | ✓Built-in |
| Wheelchair-accessible | ~Depends on profile | ✓Yes | ✓Yes, for everyone |
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The founder
An intuition born of a family story.
Official portraitCREADIAZ® · 2025
Before becoming a method, CREADIAZ® was an intimate question.
Cédric Diaz grew up close to his family, especially his grandmother. It was at her side that he understood something simple and profoundly moving: what makes a life full, right to the end, is autonomy — the ability to keep doing, choosing, taking part.
He carried that sensitivity to vulnerability first to the senior population, then to all those rendered fragile: people with disabilities, people with neurodegenerative diseases, people with psychomotor difficulties. Every encounter fed an obsession: to find a concrete, accessible, joyful way to safeguard, for as long as possible, the autonomy that means so much to them.
The CREADIAZ® method was born of that obsession. It does not seek to impress. It seeks to serve.
“The body and the brain are one. By stimulating one, you nourish the other. This synergy lies at the heart of CREADIAZ®.”
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Frequently asked questions
What we are asked the most.
CREADIAZ® is not a free-form animation. It is a documented protocol, structured around four inseparable pillars (V.R.E.M.) and validated by ten years of practice. Every exercise has a precise cognitive and motor intention; every session follows an activation curve that has been deliberately built. Where animation seeks to keep people busy, the method seeks to transform.
No. The method is designed to be practised entirely on a chair. It adapts to each person's cognitive and motor potential. Every exercise has three levels of difficulty that the facilitator adjusts in real time according to the group's capacities.
A training programme is now offered in partnership with a training organisation. The precise terms (length, format, prerequisites, registration) are detailed on the Training page.
Partner organisations generally observe very high return rates: practitioners ask to come back. Over time, qualitative feedback converges: greater ease in daily gestures, renewed confidence, shared pleasure in the group, an end to isolation. These are benefits each organisation can document at its own pace.
Yes, without reservation. CREADIAZ® is designed as a complement to APA (adapted physical activity), physiotherapy, speech therapy or music therapy. It does not replace any care; it strengthens the wider care ecosystem.
With a CREADIAZ® practitioner: no equipment required. The practitioner brings cones, balls and music. You only need to provide the space and chairs.
For in-house deployment: a CREADIAZ® teaching kit is available, including balls and cones in the method's colours. You only need a device to play music.
A light setup, with no logistical burden.
The CREADIAZ® directory lists professionals trained in the method, with their specialities and locations. Individuals can also subscribe to the SMS Programme, which delivers a guided sequence to practise at home each week.