Caregiving in practice

What is Reminiscence therapy?

Reminiscence therapy uses photographs, music, objects and familiar stories from a person's past to prompt memory, conversation and pleasure.

Long-term memory is often preserved when recent memory is not, so a wedding photograph or a song from someone's twenties can reach them when questions about this morning cannot.

It is one of the better-evidenced non-drug approaches for mood and engagement.

Why it matters

It gives families something to do together that works, at a point when ordinary conversation has stopped working.

Sources

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Reminiscence therapy where you live

The local guide on this, for each city we cover.

Related terms

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