Alzheimer’s and memories: Use mementos as cues

Alzheimer’s can rob your beloved ones of cherished memories. Create a memory box to enable them remember the earlier.

By Mayo Clinic Team

Daily life is like a tapestry, woven from memories of men and women and functions. Your distinctive tapestry reminds you of who you are, in which you have been and what you have accomplished.

People today in the early stages of Alzheimer’s sickness and other dementias typically have problem recalling new functions, but memories from early in lifetime could remain. Unfortunately, Alzheimer’s sickness step by step normally takes these memories, way too. If you’re caring for someone with dementia you can enable him or her control the start of memory loss by creating a memory box or lender.

Making a memory lender

Memories can be preserved in several techniques. You can:

  • Preserve an digital folder with pics of family users and photographs of mementos from the person’s lifetime
  • Create down descriptions of essential functions in the person’s lifetime
  • Create a scrapbook or box with pics, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards, greeting playing cards, sketches, poetry or musical verses
  • Make a video clip or audio recording of personalized tales
  • Include preferred tracks or Television set demonstrates

Look at generating copies of just about anything cherished for safekeeping.

When adding pics and documents to a memory box:

  • Use a jar or special box. Label the jar or box and hold it in a area the person can conveniently entry.
  • Include older pics. What age is your beloved a person dwelling in his or her thoughts? You can expect to want to include things like a great deal of photographs from that time.
  • Every image tells a tale. Create that tale as a caption for every photo. Include the names of any person in the image and the date, if possible.

To get the person talking for a video clip or audio recording, you may possibly start by reminiscing about his or her family history, traditions and celebrations. Childhood video games, residences and animals are typically very good opening matters — particularly as dementia progresses and new functions turn out to be really hard to remember. You may possibly also chat about preferred sports activities, books, songs and hobbies, as well as cultural or historic functions.

Depending on the position of the person’s memory, you may possibly also want to job interview neighbors, close friends and family users.

Applying the memory lender

At the time you create the person’s memory lender, use it. Pull out pics and other products during the day to remind the person of special associations, functions and areas.

By documenting the person’s tale, you can affirm the good matters he or she has accomplished and, perhaps, can nonetheless do. Even just after the person’s memories fade, creating this sort of treasury demonstrates that you value and regard his or her legacy — and it can enable remind you who the person was before dementia.