This is an article in Hovi Care’s series of 10 articles with the topic: 10 Wishes for Caregiver.
The keys to success when working with a person with memory disorders are both very easy but challenging. Everything starts with the person’s situation and his/her abilities.
In this series of articles, we’ll help you make the day successful with the person with dementia. (PwD) You will need a bag of tips and tricks to tackle multitude of situations. The tools and methods include:
- standing side-by-side
- reminiscing together
- continually searching for ways to enhance a person’s feeling of safety
- supporting a person’s self-image
- creating moments that enforce feelings of participation and a person’s sense of accomplishment
Let’s Get Started with Reminiscence Therapy
A question: “do you remember?” will not give you answers and creates confusion when the person will not remember. You can use different methods to support reminiscence, cards with pictures, everyday items, familiar music, movements and motion to get into reminiscence. Note that you are doing it together, and you can also share your memories of similar situations. This will take the discussion further. The idea is not to ask the person with memory disorders to reminiscence. Instead, both of you are finding ways for both of you to remember something about it.
How to Gather Information to Support a Person in Various Situations
You cannot start by asking one question at a time as it probably will not provide the answers you are looking for. But if you can get the discussion going using a picture or a story, the memories can be very rich and colourful.
It does not matter if the memory is true or not. The person remembers the situation like in that particular moment, and it is a valuable memory by itself. If you start arguing that “it was not like that”, it will create unnecessary confusion and embarrassment. So reminiscing together and the memory, as it was recollected, is valuable by itself.
The memories can also change depending on the mood of the person. The feelings will affect the reminiscence which can be sketchy and sporadic. Some parts of the memory can be forgotten, and some other details can be more important at that time. When you go through the same memories over and over again with him/her, it will create a bigger picture, and the nuances of the memory will emerge. For instance, the reminiscence is not just about the person working in the warehouse. But it is about the weight of the boxes, very hot atmosphere, cordial relationship with the colleagues, and having lunch together. The details will help you use those memories in the care of the person.
Tips to Successfully Engage
To be successful, you will need to know the person’s key memories to be able to guide the person and to evaluate the challenging situations. There might be something in a person’s life history, which contributed to the situation. For example, someone who has problems caring for the person could look like someone with whom the person had had an argument before.
Note that all the people who participate in the care of the person can and should share those essential pieces of information to build a big picture of a person’s life history.
Also, have a look at Hovi Care’s other articles on the series: 10 Wishes for Caregiver
Have a look at our other articles on how to take care of a person with dementia here.
If you need support services for your loved one, please contact us to hear more. We operate in Bali and Singapore. Read more about Hovi Care here.
