Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
A room full of memories to take dementia sufferers back to their past
Frank Sinatra is crooning away, tea is being served in the best china, and a Singer sewing machine sits on the sideboard alongside a thrift box for saving for rent, coal and leccy bills.
Lace doilies adorn every surface, and a 1950s typewriter sits on a side table.
It is like stepping back to a bygone age when flowery carpets were all the rage and the first man landed on the moon, as reported by the Mirror on the coffee table.
This is the special Reminiscence Room at the state-of-the-art Fiona Gardens care home in Trafford, Greater Manchester.
Staff have created it with furniture and trinkets from the 1950s and 1960s to help jog the memories of dementia patients and encourage other elderly residents to reconnect with their past.
Manager Elaine Craven says: “I describe dementia as having all your memories in a bookcase. The memories at the top are the ones that have just happened, the ones at the bottom are from your childhood. With dementia the bookcase wobbles and the books at the top fall off and if they hit the floor they are gone forever. But the ones at the bottom are still there.
“So for someone with dementia to walk into that room, that is reality for them. You are taking them into their own living room, back to their parents and grandparents, so they start to talk.
“Giving them something from their past to connect to starts conversations.”
With no budget for the room, an appeal was put out on Facebook. Locals responded with open hearts. Elaine adds: “I also got some flowery wallpaper from the bargain bin at B&Q and then I aged it using teabags.
“But what is so lovely is that lots of our residents have donated items from their own pasts which spark lovely memories for them whenever they go in the room.”
Two residents, Joy Fawkes and Dorothy Noriss, are having tea and a chat there.
Joy has donated plates that belonged to her mother, while Dorothy has given some china crockery and a set of candle sticks.
Joy, 82, has lived at the home for two years. She has epilepsy and her daughters wanted her to live somewhere they knew help would be on hand if she needed it.
She laughs: “I love this room, although I don’t think I am old enough for it. The only thing we are missing is a barometer. We used to have one next to our front door and you would tap on it as you went out to see what the weather is going to be.”
Recalling her younger days, Joy says: “I was on the stage as a dancer and I met my husband in the Isle of Man, where I was working in the theatres.
“He was a professional musician and one of the Houghton Weavers folk band. He played jazz music, so I like listening to Ella Fitzgerald.
“I was in panto when I was a child and those under 16 had to have a chaperone to make them keep quiet backstage. Morecambe and Wise were in the show and my
NICOLA O’brien of the Alzheimer’s Society says: “It can be distressing and isolating to forget memories.
“For people with dementia, reminiscence can be a powerful and enjoyable way of communicating and connecting with others. It chaperone end Ernie. They we
Dorothy, 88, of three years. in Manchester first job at C&A because I was mum had to co for the interview The room takes her back, “I think this room is beautif me of my mum, my grandma
“I like listening to the mu and I used to go dancing. W a shilling a week off my m would pay for a bus and tram halls.
“My husband was a dance we used to love going dancin
can jog the memory and help people feel calm and in control.
“But dementia affects everyone differently, so approach reminiscing in an individual and supportive way. Each person has a rich life tapestry unique to them, so provide opportunities
to recall positive with photos, letters and
“Dementia can affect from as early on as thei up to their 90s and bey decades and culture the with and remember bes