Memories from our past can bring great joy and positive emotional experiences. Thinking back to younger years, happy times and places brings most people a sense of continuity and reward. Most of us would have to stop and consciously think about our past. We would have to concentrate on specific times or places. Or, we could move into a senior care community that offers reminiscence therapy. Then, our environment would be full of cues and reminders of places, people, and things from our past.
Reminiscence Therapy
Many senior care communities are now building environments that replicate the distant past of seniors who have some type of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. Hallways, common areas, and resident rooms are full of memorabilia from the 1940’s through the 1970s, like old photographs, artifacts, and music. Physical structures like sidewalks, a general store, soda shop and barber and beauty shops are now a part of their everyday experience. These are immersive environments that can bring a sense of calm, and increase the quality of living for residents who are cognitively impaired. They can also enhance long-term memory.
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How to Create an Immersive Environment
I have visited many assisted living communities and skilled nursing facilities that have become very creative in their quest to bring the past into the present for their residents. I’ve been in ice cream parlors from the 1950s and heard Elvis playing on a jukebox. Some communities had shadow boxes lining the hallway with World War II memorabilia, Frank Sinatra photos, and personal items from the resident’s past. I have walked through buildings that brought the outside inside – a brick walkway, old-fashioned porches complete with rocking chairs and mailboxes, and a general store where residents can purchase a number of items.
Why Does Reminiscence Work?
Street lights, putting courses and a chapel all make for great reminiscing and can bring feelings of happiness and joy to residents who are cognitively impaired. But why? Wouldn’t you like to think about your youth and all the fun times you had when life was less complicated? Reminiscence therapy and immersive environments work because they do just that – they bring residents back to their prime years and happier times.
Seeing objects from their past can bring a renewed sense of purpose and meaning into the life of a senior who has been slowly losing their memory and cognitive abilities. Being surrounded by artifacts from their past can unleash many happy long-term memories that would have otherwise disappeared. Just imagine a retired secretary sitting down behind an old-fashioned typewriter or a car enthusiast working on a motor of a 1950s T-Bird.
No Cure for Dementia
Since there is no cure for dementia, no medication to prevent it, and therapies that may or may not manage symptoms, reminiscence therapy and immersive environments may be the best interventions available. Both of these are concerned with one goal – to increase quality of life, regardless of the severity of dementia. They are also about restoring dignity to seniors who have lived a long life and have experienced a great deal of history.
Reminiscence and immersive environments bring the familiar back to the senior, where they may feel more comfort and belonging. It may remind them more of their lives and less of living in a nursing home. It can bring a sense of togetherness instead of isolation and loneliness. Seniors are also more inclined to tap into their past with so many cues and tangible artifacts around them. This can lead to increased socialization with others and less boredom. Perhaps dementia-related behaviors will lessen as well, as residents engage in some of their favorite things from their past.
Final Thoughts on Reminiscence Therapy and Dementia
This generation of seniors residing in care communities has seen a great deal of history. They, too, were young and vibrant and lived their prime years through the 1940s, 50s, 60s and beyond. Until there exists prevention, better treatments and a cure for dementia, reminiscence therapy and immersive environments may be the best alternative to increasing quality of life for residents who have memory and cognitive problems.
(NOTE: Interested in learning more about Memory Care & Dementia? Checkout my Memory Care & Dementia CEUs on CEU Academy and try a FREE CEU today!)