Introduction
Reminiscence therapy was created in 1963 by psychiatrist Robert Butler to help treat memory loss and cognitive decline in people with dementia. The term "reminiscence bump" is used by psychologists to describe the time span that people in middle and older age most easily recall. Usually between the teenage years and early adulthood. 1 Reminiscence therapy uses all the senses to help people with dementia remember events, people, and places from their past. 2 It is also suitable for people with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, as well as other conditions caused by brain disease. It works because it draws on memories that have been recalled and revisited repeatedly over many years. With the right triggers, these memories can be restored and revisited. The smell of a favorite recipe or the sound of a favorite song can revive memories from the past. Reminiscence therapy is an informal approach that encourages clients to talk about past events that they recall using various aids such as old pictures and music. They can thus share personal stories that evoke positive memories and emotions. Through reminiscence, the individual can feel reassured, which in turn improves their self-esteem, mental well-being, and social interactions. 3
Techniques Used in Reminiscence Therapy
Visual: Visuals are an effective way to return to past experiences and start a conversation. This can include looking through albums, watching family movies, and browsing newspaper clippings. Auditory: This involves music — another great tool for evoking happy memories and building connection. This can mean listening to or singing songs from the person's youth or their favorite band. Taste: Taste can be activated by a social worker or social rehabilitation instructor. This can mean cooking someone a favorite childhood meal or a relative's recipe and then asking them what memories come to mind. Smell: This involves using scents that can instantly evoke memories and promote a sense of well-being. For example, when a person smells a perfume or scented candles, it may inspire them to talk about an anecdote. Touch: Touching objects, feeling textures, painting or pottery, then talking about memories associated with the object.
Incorporating Memories into Daily Life
- Ask open-ended questions: These questions require more than a "yes" or "no" answer. Follow-up questions can help keep memories and stories flowing.
- Allow space for emotions: Memories can sometimes be painful, but that does not mean they are "bad." If the care receiver starts to cry, listen, sympathize, and tell them that it is okay to feel sad.
- Use objects as prompts: Ask the care receiver about their photographs and souvenirs.
- Engage the senses: Smelling and tasting familiar foods, dancing, and listening to music are examples of things that can conjure memories.
Reminiscence therapy engages both the care receiver and the social worker, involves all the senses, and uses both verbal and nonverbal communication. It can be a practical experience for everyone involved, and it is often important to use props. One must be aware of time frames and use materials from the person's memories. For example, if a person was born in 1950, you should find material from the 1960s and 1970s to achieve maximum effect. Try to discover and utilize the care receiver's past hobbies or interests.
Benefits of Reminiscence Therapy 4 5
- Improves mood and some cognitive abilities.
- Improves well-being and behavior in care receivers with dementia.
- Creates intimate moments between the social worker and the care receiver.
- Helps alleviate depression and can have a calming effect.
- Provides a renewed sense of identity.
- Helps reduce stress for social workers and social rehabilitation instructors.
- Creates a sense of self-worth, self-confidence, purpose, and identity.
- Reduces isolation and promotes socialization.
Furthermore, compared to conventional medication treatment, reminiscence therapy has no serious side effects. 6 Some people with memory problems deny the problem or are simply unaware of their deficit. They may become upset if asked to remember something and are unable to do so. Instead, encourage them to recall something meaningful from their past. There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, and reminiscence therapy is not a cure; it is a non-pharmacological therapy. Reminiscence therapy helps people by improving their long-term memory ability. People with dementia often feel frustrated by the limitations of relying solely on short-term memory. But by focusing on the things they do remember, reminiscence therapy can help people with Alzheimer's disease feel in control of their memory and cognitive abilities.
When using this therapy, we encourage the care receiver to recall all their important life events: family life, marriage, raising children, work performed, interests, hobbies, and contacts with friends. Care receivers can simultaneously engage multiple senses in this process of recollection.
Reminiscing is essentially a summary of sharing experiences, thoughts, and feelings and remembering important life events that remind care receivers of what and who they were in the past and help them identify themselves in the present. What does it mean when a care receiver with dementia says, "I want to go home"? When a care receiver with dementia "asks to go home," it often points to the absence of a feeling of home, not the home itself. Home for them is a memory of a place and time that provided safety and comfort, where they felt happier and calmer. This place may not exist physically; it can also be imaginary.
Goals of Reminiscence Therapy
- Mobilizing and stimulating social service recipients (SSR) to cooperate.
- Improving the condition of the SSR.
- Supporting the dignity of the SSR.
- Improving communication with the SSR.
- Engaging thinking and memory.
- Restoring past sensory perceptions and emotions.
- Activating the mental activity of the SSR.
- Targeted selection of deeply emotional memories.
- The rehabilitation process.
- Eliminating long-term memory deficits.
The purpose of the therapy is also to improve the quality of leisure time for social service recipients, preserve their identity and self-confidence, strengthen and maintain cognitive functions and memory, and reduce their loneliness through sharing their memories in group activities. As a result of the increased quality of life of the social service recipient, they may be able to perform self-care activities independently for longer. The methodological procedure presents the reminiscence itself and the techniques that can be used during recollection. When activating the SSR, the social worker or social rehabilitation instructor has 13 individual work procedures of reminiscence therapy at their disposal, which they apply in the individual plan of the social service recipient and also list in the weekly and monthly activity plan.
As an example, we present one of the work procedures — The Book of Life — a document containing a person's life story. The final form may be an actual bound book, but also a paper notebook with glued portraits and written notes. Creating a memory book of life supports the client's identity; through the book, they can remember what they have accomplished and experienced in life, as well as when browsing through it repeatedly. The book of life may be for the private use of each client only, or may be in a publicly accessible place, such as an exhibition (Janečková, Vacková, 2010, pp. 120-122). 7
Conclusion
Reminiscence — a non-pharmacological therapy — is an important part of comprehensive care for seniors. Caring for a senior is demanding work, requiring an individual approach and a combination of several methods. In facilities for seniors, we have achieved significantly better results when using this non-pharmacological treatment. Social workers use standard procedures and cooperate on activation methods and individual work with the senior with other team members, thereby improving their quality of life.
Author: PhDr. Lívia Katona PhD. The author is the director of ZPS Hrnčiarovce nad Parnou, Šelpice and Horné Orešany
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