Activities

• Memory Boxes – contain special keepsakes which have meaning for a person.  They can help start a conversation, stimulate reminisces and help people feel more comfortable with familiar items around them.   Memory Box. What are they. What goes in a Memory Box? (dementia.co.uk)
• Journaling and scrapbooking is a great way to help people reminisce about their life.

Reminiscence helps someone living with dementia to feel heard, develop confidence, exercise the brain and provides a feeling of well-being. This can be used to help someone think about their past but also recognise the difference with their present.  The discussion questions in this section may help to provide the basis for a journal or a scrapbook.

Journal templates can be found online (search “Dear Dad, from you to me” or “Dear Mum from you to me”) and they are a great way to help prompt someone to think about their past experiences. Questions include:

• Tell me about your earliest memories
• Tell me about your mum and dad
• Do you remember the place/places you lived in the past as a child?

These activities can be beneficial when done in a dementia friendly setting as this is a great way to create meaningful conversations between people about their lives, the similarities and the differences giving an individual a great feeling of self-worth.