General Chat

………strokes, dementia, Alzheimer’s etc. I must admit that I know very little of these illnesses.

I have been approached by the manager of our local nursing home to go and talk to some of their patients (with the permission of their families) about their family history and memories. She has told me that many remember things from long ago, but not what they did only yesterday, also that some are confused and think they are living in the past. The manager seems to think that to recollect and tell of past experiences or events would stimulate them.

If anyone has had a family member in this situation do you think this would or could have helped?

Please feel free to give your opinions.

LA

It's an excellent idea. Any questions asked of a sufferer which prompts memories can only be a good thing. Many people with damaged parts of their brains do have recall but not of recent events.

Good luck.

Sue

Yes but dont be alarmed if they change their story 10 mins later ,if I lived near you I would offer to join you to offer my support :-D

Some strokes make them lose words, they take a bit of deciphering.

Its a fantastic idea!!.... My Nan suffers short term memory loss, and last week in her care home they had a "Time Travel Day" they asked the families of the people in care for photographs, stories and anything memorable to each other.....It was an amazing day and to see some of these lovley people get up and talk about their lives and memories and stories was fascinating.......

It was a lovley day for all including the staff and families ...go for it LA !! Enjoy and Good Luck x

I does sound a good idea, you could try to find out where they grew up & print off some old views of the area.

I found an old postcard/photo album, took it in when visiting my paternal aunt, she loved it. It also jogged her memory & I heard several story's about my Father & Grandfather.

It had been hard going for a while visiting her, as at times she thought I was my Grandmother.

In my opinion it is a BIG help.

My mum's in a Care Home, she has dementia. Some days she's bright as a button, other days she's confused - those days she describes as being in a foggy smog.
There's nothing she likes better than talking about yester-year because she has such vivid memories of it, rather than recent events which she doesn't remember much about.
Mum couldn't tell me what she had for lunch, or even whether she's had lunch, let alone where she spent Christmas, but she can tell me everything about the village she was born, her school friends, her teachers and the war years there. She seems to think she was there recently (she left when she was 19), yet she hardly mentions the place she last lived.

Best of all she loves going over the family photos (she has lots of framed photos in her room, she also has an album and underneath each photo I've carefully written the names of the people in the pics) and we go through these a lot. This certainly brings a huge amount of joy and pleasure, with her remembering the tiniest of details.

At the Home they have 'memorabilla walls', each wall showing a different era or theme.
For example the War Years wall has old photos, postcards, rail tickets, dance hall tickets etc and in the corner there's a rail of clothes, hats and handbags. All the resident ladies, when passing, say "I used to have one of those" or in some cases, "that's mine!". In passing, if I happen to talk to any of the residents about items of the memorabilia they come alive, they love talking about it.

P.S. don't be alarmed if they think you are their mum, daughter, granny etc - just let it ride, it'll be different the next time you go!!
Sometimes my mum thinks I'm her sister, other days she knows I'm her daughter but is alarmed at how grown up I am!!

It does sound as if it will be very helpful for the people and for the home concerned. Photos are an excellent idea, even if of old type transport, trams, trolley buses etc.

Karen it sounds as if your Mum is in a very good home what a lovely idea to have a memorabilia wall.

Thank you all for your input and ideas, they have been very positive, the memorabilia wall and “Time travel day” sounds like a great idea.

The care home has about 20 residents; the care manager approached me after I had done a talk at our local museum. I will contact her and see what we can do.

If anyone has more tips and suggestions please feel free to add.

LA

LA think it is a super idea. When m-i-l was in a home we used to visit and there was an elderly man who just sat in chair never seemed to talk to anyone. OH started to talk to him and although he did not seem to be that with it, liked to talk about the war.

OH being very interested in WW1 used to take in various memorabilia it was amazing the things he told my husband about his experiences, even his son was surprised when he saw husband bringing him to life.

Saw an article on TV a few weeks ago and in one care home they had set up an old fashioned shop, all the clients enjoyed it, seemed to trigger memories.

So yes do it :-)

Carol

I did My wife's family tree for her and whilst her grandfather was in a nursing home at 94 years old he was suffering from dementia and she being a nurse said it would be good for him, when she took all the info for his side of the family including the census print outs he suddenly remembered everything including school mates his own aunts and uncles, he was like a new man for a short while,

The nursing home asked me if i could go back and do the same for some of their other patients But then told me i would need to be CRB checked which i didn't mind but they told me i would have to pay for the CRB check myself,

I thought that was a step to far

Roy

Thank you all for your input,

It seems that this will benefit those concerned.

Roy I already have regular CRB checks as I teach and lecture in colleges and universities, so that is not a problem.

LA