Jogging memories with familiar items
The Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre (WDREC) is teaming up with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) to test the efficacy of iRemember loan cases. The cases contain a rich collection of objects chosen from familiar items from the 1930s to 1970s.
The Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre (WDREC) is teaming up with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) to test the efficacy of iRemember loan cases.
The cases contain a rich collection of objects chosen from familiar items from the 1930s to 1970s. Each case is based on a themed collection that triggers memories by using the senses of touch, sight, smell and sound.
The cases ‘In the Kitchen’ and ‘Stepping Out’ will take people down memory lane, extending communication and hopefully improving wellbeing.
Reminiscence therapy has been established as a popular and effective therapeutic approach for working with people with dementia. Reported benefits of this approach include promoting communication and wellbeing, as well as focusing on preserved abilities rather than deficits.
Evaluations suggest joint approaches involving family carers can improve relationships between the carer and the person with dementia, while other studies have demonstrated reductions in carer depression and carer stress. Enhancement of autobiographical memory has also been associated with reminiscence groups involving people with dementia and their carer.
The WDREC and TMAG will take a consult with the community to identify what people with dementia and their carers would like to see in the iRemember loan cases.
Collaborating with Alzheimer’s Australia Tasmania, a memory diary will also provide an opportunity for people with dementia and their carers to share their memories associated with particular artefacts or cases, providing valuable feedback on the artefacts in serving as memory triggers, and assisting in the refinement of the case contents.
The aim is to develop four iRemember loan cases comprising a collection of theme-specific artefacts and an iRemember handbook, which will explain the origin of individual objects, suggested discussion pointers relating to each item, group and paired activities involving the objects, and overall guidelines for using the reminiscing loan cases for people with dementia.
