Down memory lane

Carbolic soap and jiving shoes have brought a new lease of life to a group of older people in Kent and Medway, jolting memories that have lain dormant for years. Housing providers in the area are offering older residents, particularly those with dementia, a multi-sensory trip down memory lane through handling objects.

Social landlords including Abbeyfield Kent Society, Southern Housing Group and Canterbury Council’s housing department have teamed up with the Group for Education in Museums to run ‘Sounding out your heritage’, a project for people aged over 60 who live in isolation.

Using £74,600 of funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the participants used artefacts such as jelly moulds, ration cards and flat irons from local museums to provoke memories and explore their personal, local and national heritages. These were ‘sounded out’ at an event attended by their family and friends. Residents were able to bring alive their shared memories through tangible objects such as a patchwork quilt, recipe book, memory box and story leaflets.

Quality of life

Dr John Stevenson, director of GEM, says the organisaton had worked with children and families, ‘but realised we weren’t doing so much for those over 60. We worked with [both] care homes and housing managers - it’s about trying to bring those two sectors together because both are trying to improve the quality of lives of the elderly. And the impact is that [this kind of activity] improves their health… it delays the onset of dementia’.

Six small groups of over-60s met throughout a three month period from November 2009 at different locations including care homes and sheltered housing. Participants ranged from frail people with dementia to an active residents’ group. Housing providers only needed to supply the venue, back-up staff and, of course, the participants.

Amanda Odd is home manager at Edward Moore House, part of sheltered housing and residential care provider Abbeyfield Kent Society which ran five weekly sessions in March for 18 residents.

‘I know our clients, and one common interest they share [is music] and because they’re dementia clients, I wanted something that went further than a one-off session,’ she says. Ms Odd adds this is because people with dementia have, ‘such a lack of motivation and their concentration is limited,’ that more sustained work is needed.

Satisfaction

‘With GEM, we first evoked the memories,’ she explains, which they did by bringing in a dance troupe of young people who waltzed for an hour.

There was discussion after this. ‘We asked people, “do you remember the foxtrot?” and they said, “Yes, we did the jive,” or, “I wore this short skirt”.’
She and the GEM facilitator also discussed the group’s love of arts and crafts and decided to make a quilt comprising squares of fabric - one for each client - on which they pasted shapes and images of memories. ‘We talked about what they thought about when they thought about music,’ she says.

One resident cool cat said contemplating Mick Jagger was electric, so she pasted lightning shapes to her patch of the quilt. The quilt is now displayed on the wall. Staff have added scented oils and pot pourri into its fabric and attached sound buttons that play songs such as Jailhouse Rock when pressed.

‘We had a celebration event and we all got issued a certificate,’ says Ms Odd. ‘They were all so proud they had achieved something - even if they weren’t sure what they’d achieved.’

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