Family members can take their relatives into the reminiscence room to give them a change from the ward and they often report a huge change in their relative ’ s behaviour , which has enabled discussions about their past .”
Family members can take their relatives into the reminiscence room to give them a change from the ward and they often report a huge change in their relative ’ s behaviour , which has enabled discussions about their past .”
they grew up , what they did as a career , different places they have travelled to and the wonderful things they have done during their life .
Within the room there is a whole array of life-like dolls , cats , dogs and other items of memorabilia from the past for dementia patients to sit and interact with . Quite often the baby dolls will bring out a patient ’ s nurturing side and they will sit and talk about the time they had their own children and recall amusing anecdotes .
Family members can take their relatives into the reminiscence room to give them a change from the ward and they often report a huge change in their relative ’ s behaviour , which has enabled discussions about their past .
Some examples include a patient talking about her time doing a hairdressing apprenticeship and how she used to go dancing at the local town hall . The tablet was used to show her old photographs of the local area and people in the past and she became quite animated as all the memories came flooding back .
When her son was able to witness and participate in this he commented that ‘ it ’ s exactly how she used to be 10 years ago , before dementia had silenced her and she had withdrawn into herself ’.
We were also able to use the reminiscence room with a 71-year-old gentleman who was presenting very aggressively on the ward and trying to get into a female bay . He was trying to hit a healthcare assistant who was preventing him getting into the bay and was becoming extremely agitated and aggressive .
Adam intervened to try and help calm the patient and asked him if he would like to visit the reminiscence room . On arrival , the patient sat down stating : ‘ Oh I see what you mean now ’. He then sat quietly and calmly watching a relaxing scene with calming music . He enjoyed a cup of tea while chatting away calmly .
A patient with advanced dementia who was non-verbal was also selected to participate in activities in the reminiscence room . He was becoming quite frustrated and agitated on the ward . He was able to stand for approximately 45 minutes while playing on the interactive games on the electronic tablet .
He was able to follow instructions very well and participate in activities almost independently . He indicated that he was enjoying himself with laughter .
The healthcare assistants ( HCAs ) who ‘ bay watch ’ confused patients often use the room during the night to calm patients who are disturbing other patients . They can watch DVDs in there , or use You Tube for calming music videos and reminiscence . The therapy department aims to train all the HCAs in the use of the tablet and activities in the room .
The main issue at present is finding time to use the room and plan activities as our clinical caseload takes priority . In future we would like to apply for a volunteer to support with the use of the room and possibly an activity co-ordinator to plan activities .
Westphal A , Calleja D , LoGuidance D , Lautenschlager N ( 2017 ) Using reminiscence with people with dementia in sub-acute and acute care : The Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age , The University of Melbourne , Parkville , Victoria , Australia . An Australian Government Initiative .
Gonzalez-Senac NM , Somoza-Fernandez G , Ocaña Ramirez E , Romero-Estarlich V , Ortiz- Alonso FJ , Serra-Rexach JA , Vidan MT ( 2023 ) Effects of reminiscence therapy on anxiety and depression during acute hospitalization in older patients : Controlled study . Journal of the American Geriatrics Society , 71 ( 1 ): 36 – 45 . https :// doi . org / 10.1111 / jgs . 18063 .
The Kings Fund ( 2014 ) Is your hospital dementia friendly ? EHE Environmental Tool . Available at www . kingsfund . org . uk / sites / default / files / media / ehe-hospitals-dementia-assessment-tool . pdf [ accessed 4 October 2023 ]
Words ADAM NEWBERRY , Therapy Assistant , Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , TRACEY SMITHSON , Occupational Therapist , Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust , and EMILY SUTHERLAND , Occupational Therapy Student , Oxford Brookes University
46 OTnews October 2023