Reminscence

Most people with memory problems complain about forgetting things from the fairly recent past. “I can remember my first day at school, or my wedding, but I cannot remember what I saw on TV last night,” is a frequent comment. This is a well known fact and even people who have no serious memory difficulties will say the same. What we can do is use this preservation of Long Term Memory as a strength. It is one of the remaining good, healthy, strong areas that the person with memory problems has left. You can take advantage of this by making sure that the person has plenty of opportunities to talk about their past.
So, this means that it can be far more rewarding if you are caring for a person with memory difficulties to spend your time talking about the distant past than it is to try to talk about current affairs or the recent performance of a favourite football team. It is not only rewarding for you, it can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience for the sufferer too.
Sometimes it is enough to steer the conversation toward the past. Just chatting about old times may be sufficient to stimulate a good flow of pleasant and rewarding conversation that is meaningful and interesting to the person with memory difficulties.
At other times it may be necessary to use some sort of ‘prompt’ and these can be fantastically effective in stimulating ideas and responses. You could regard them as a key to unlocking a person’s hidden memories. Get the ‘key’ right and you will be able to discover a wealth of knowledge and experience that would otherwise be hidden.

  • A video or DVD of a film from the person’s youth
  • Look up some old family pictures
  • Photos of past events or historical occasions like the Korean War, or Kennedy’s assassination.
  • Old books or newspapers, even comics if you can get them.
  • Music from the past brings back floods of memories.
  • The smell of carbolic soap or a favourite perfume.
  • Old utensils like mangles or flat irons can be touched and handled. This can bring forth a rich stream of memories.
  • The taste of certain foods may be especially powerful if they are associated with the person’s youth
  • Most bookshops have a section on local history which will have some photos of what life was like when this person was younger


This sort of reminiscing can go on for as long as you like. The prompts that you use are limited only by your imagination. The joy of reminiscing is that it allows the person with memory problems to take a main part in conversation, maybe even lead it. For once they are competent and expert, something that does not happen too often when serious memory impairment strikes.


Life Story Book

You may choose to make this a little more formal and organised by building up an album of the person’s life. This can be done using a scrap book or a photo album or a loose leaf folder. You can insert as much information and as many pictures as you think is desirable. Generally, it is better to put in slightly too little rather than run the risk of overloading the person with too much detail.
A very simple album for somebody with moderate dementia would contain one photo and a little bit of explanatory text on each page. Page one could be a picture of the person as a baby with his or her parents. The text would say something like “I was born on 15th July 1937, my parents were Peter and Elaine Drury”. The next page might be of a larger family photograph or of the person at school. Again, a short bit of text would explain where the photo was taken, who is in it and the date. You will know what are the most important parts of a person’s life to include but it would be worthwhile thinking about including some of these:

  • Family of origin
  • Schooldays
  • Religious interests
  • First job
  • Military service
  • Marriage (or other significant relationships)
  • Children
  • Other jobs and especially best ever position attained
  • Achievements and hobbies
  • Holidays
  • Grandchildren


You should involve the person with memory problems in making up this album, ask them what they want to see included. Watch them, see what gets them interested and what leaves them cold.
When the album is completed you can use it as a conversation piece, as something that you can look at together and talk over. Or you can leave the person to look through it alone.
A very important use of these sorts of personal history albums is that they may be shown to professional staff, care assistants, nurses and doctors. By doing this you can show these professionals something of the individual person behind the illness. This really can be an eye-opening experience for some professionals. Too often people in the health and social services tend to see their clients and patients only as they are now. It is difficult to imagine how these people would have been when younger, fitter and more competent.


Reminiscence Tapes

One way of using reminiscence that is very promising is when a close relations, frequently the spouse or partner, makes a tape in the form of a conversation about the times that they have had together.
This can be quite difficult for people to do. Lots of us feel very self-conscious about doing this but be assured that what you say will remain for the ears of the memory sufferer only (unless you give permission otherwise).
Using the example of a spouse, a wife might be asked to provide fifteen or twenty minutes of personal recollections about when they met, where they were, things they got up to whilst courting, their wedding day, and some memorable events from their married life. They should talk in a warm conversational tone and address the sufferer as if he or she were present.
Small studies have shown that those people who liked listening to the voice of a close relative or spouse (and some did not, finding it confusing) became calmer and appeared more content. One of my students carried out a case study with one gentleman who became extremely agitated when his wife left after visiting him. For half an hour or more he would pace around calling for her and banging at the windows all the while being visibly distressed. This happened after he had spent hours sitting peacefully in her company for most of the afternoon. We asked the wife to make a tape of their early years together, concentrating on vivid and happy memories. We found that if she put the tape on (using a portable cassette player with headphones) before she left then all his agitation and distress disappeared completely.