• by Les Luchter , July 15, 2025

The National Senior Games, a 50+ Olympic-style biennial event, kick off July 24 in Des Moines, Iowa, with Humana on board as presenting sponsor for the 10^th straight year.

This year, the health insurance giant is supplementing the physical competition with the inaugural edition of its own online Humana Cognitive Games, designed for mental exercise. 

Launched Monday on HumanaGames.com and open to everyone, Humana member or not, the Cognitive Games include not only such activities as matching games, word games and brain teasers, but also lifestyle tips and other educational content “designed to exercise the mind and foster social connection.”

By playing the games and accessing the other contents, players gain points to earn bronze, silver and gold badges, “as a nod to the athletes who are competing for medals at the National Senior Games,” Kelli LeGaspi, Human’s director of Medicare and Medicaid external communications, tells Marketing Daily. “From a social perspective, the points are also used for the leaderboard, so participants can encourage others to join them for some friendly competition.”

To promote the Cognitive Games, LeGaspi says Humana is targeting older adults with paid and organic social media, and has launched several national-level sponsored articles and e-newsletters.

Humana will also reach out to the 12,000+ National Senior Games participants with on-site materials featuring QR codes that connect to the Cognitive Games, a community word search, a book with crossword puzzles and other games -- and by providing analog games like Jenga, Connect Four, chess and Scrabble at numerous on-site locations including the Athlete’s Village and Pickleball Recovery Lounge. 

All this is “to give attendees a way to train their brains between athletic competitions,” LeGaspi says.

For older adults in general, she adds, the goal is encouraging them “to understand actions they can take each day that may help prevent cognitive decline and maintain independence.”

Indeed, the desire for independence -- over longevity without self- sufficiency -- was a key finding of a May survey conducted by Morning Consult for Humana’s CenterWell health services business. In fact 78% of the 4,217  65+ adults surveyed expressed that prioritization for independence. And while 94% said their health and well-being is a top priority, 26% said they expect their mental health to worsen with age, with more than four in 10 worrying that they’ll end up in a nursing home.

“The Humana Cognitive Games aim to bridge that gap by making whole-health activities engaging and accessible,” says the insurer.

The Cognitive Games, like the National Senior Games, will run through Aug. 11.

Besides Humana, sponsors of the National Senior Games include pharma firm GSK and its Sideline RSV awareness campaign, CareScout home care, WaterWipes, Silver Sneakers gym memberships, Growing Bolder media, WesleyLife senior communities, Therabody and Uber.