KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — If you have a loved one with dementia and you’d like to make a connection with them, you can try “reminiscing”.
It’s an activity which is said to stimulate long-term memories; and help improve relationships between people with dementia and their carers.
Here are some quick tips for reminiscing, based on resources from the UK, Singapore and Australia (such as from Dementia UK; Alzheimer’s Society, UK; The Norris Museum, UK; DementiaHub.SG; Dementia Singapore; and Dementia Support (DS) Australia):
What is reminiscence and how does it help?
People with dementia may have difficulty with short-term memory or remembering more recent events; and could also feel anxious, sad or depressed about their memory loss and may then withdraw from social activities.
Instead of focusing on what they cannot remember, reminiscence is a therapy or activity where persons living with dementia tap into their long-term memories.
During the reminiscence activity, persons with dementia share and discuss the memories from the past.
Here’s some benefits of reminiscing for people with dementia
- Stimulate mental activity;
- Improve well-being and mood;
- Maintain self-esteem, sense of self and boost confidence;
- Helps with feeling valued, sense of being loved and belonging;
- Improve social interactions with others, reduce isolation;
- Create opportunities for family members, carers to understand and meaningfully connect with people with dementia.
A blast from the past to spark and encourage conversations with people with dementia on any topic, such as hobbies. Pix shows vintage items at a collectors’ event. — File picture by Azinuddin Ghazali
What can you use to reminisce?
According to Dementia UK, you can start a conversation on topics such as childhood memories, favourite games, foods, school days, sports, pets and animals.
You can prompt the long-term memories of a person with dementia by asking questions, showing objects from the past, and using all other senses.
Dementia Singapore lists examples such as showing old photographs, playing classic songs, using familiar smells, using favourite food tastes, or activities involving touch such as craft.
You can use a “reminiscence box” or “memory box” with general themes such as hobbies or certain eras (such as the 1960s or 1970s) when reminiscing, or create a personalised memory box containing a person with dementia’s personal items that are linked to important or favourite memories.
Reminiscing personalised: “Life Story”
Reminiscence can also be done with an individual person with dementia in the form of “life story”, where they make a personal record of important experiences, people and places in their life, according to Alzheimer’s Society UK.
What might this look like?
It could be compiled as a book; a photo album; a collection of their favourite memories; a folder which contains photographs, documents and also records of what the person with dementia said; or audio or video recordings.
According to a helpsheet by Dementia Support Australia, carrying out life story work can preserve memories of the different stages of a person’s life, and be used for future conversations and also be something that family members could keep in the future.
You can use a memory box with objects with themes – such as sewing tools – as seen here to prompt memories when reminiscing. — Picture courtesy of The Norris Museum
The dos and don’ts of reminiscing
Reminiscing is not a test of how much or what a person with dementia can remember.
Avoid asking about specific memories which may cause stress if they do not know how to answer, and ask open-ended questions instead.
Be kind and understanding if a person with dementia recalls sad memories such as the loss of their loved ones, and support them while they share their story and also steer the conversation towards happy memories.
* This article is based on the author’s project during the Khazanah-Wolfson Press Fellowship 2024 at the University of Cambridge.