Reminiscing can help people to feel less isolated. Even the feel of an object may be important
Albert Museum in London. In 1984 he opened the UK’s first branding museum in Gloucester, which outgrew its site and moved to the capital.
The reminiscence sessions for dementia sufferers have proved so successful that the museum team is now putting together kits containing replicas of their exhibits to send out to care homes, hospitals and memory cafés.
CONTENTS vary but they have so far included replicas of Typhoo tea packets from the 1960s, wartime ration books and KitKats from the 1950s. Most are made by staff and volunteers at the museum.
To recreate the rarer packaging, the original items are first photographed and then design software is used to recreate near identical labels.
For the more common items, of which the museum has several copies, the original packaging is taken apart and scanned into a computer to create digital versions.
They are then printed on paper or card and stuck on to cartons and other packaging with glue, or printed flat and then folded into shape to create a brand new packet.
The museum also holds training workshops to teach care workers how to hold reminiscence sessions and sends each participant off with a box of replica objects.
Carers or relatives can also download free activity packs from the museum’s website.
“We won’t be able to reach every person who has dementia,” Alina says. “But we want the resources we have to reach as many people as possible.”
The museum’s own sessions are tailored to the severity of a participant’s condition.They may involve passing around objects to look at, touch, hold and smell, and encouraging people to talk about them.
For those whose condition is less advanced, there are games such as guessing which brands old logos or mascots should be matched with. These include a mix of originals as well as replica items, such as the strong-smelling Lifebuoy soap, widely used in the Second World War. “Reminiscing can help people dementia feel less isolated,” Alina says. “The feel of the object is important as some of our reminiscing participants have difficulty seeing well, but enjoy holding items in their hands.
“Even when the memory of a session fades, the positive impact on the person’s mood may stay, and it can also give families and carers an opportunity to interact with with the person positive way.”
The branding designs that often have the strongest effect on memory are generally
the “really common items” such as soap or sweets, rather than high-end, luxury items.
Hannah’s group of dementia sufferers, gathered at the Pepper Pot Centre near the museum, are asked to guess the age of the Nescafé coffee tin. Its cream and brown label suggests the war years, as the shortage of ink led to less colourful packaging.
A tin of condensed milk prompts a lively chat about how to make porridge, and what people would add to make it taste sweeter.
And suddenly, people whose life has ceased to make sense to them have discovered that, for a little while at least, it has regained some of its savour. with dementia in
●●museumofbrands.com/brand-memories/
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