The following short article is from the Dementia Care Australia newsletter. Dementia Care Australia is an independent information and education organization specializing in supporting both people with dementia and their care givers; be they family members, professionals, employers or friends. For more information about Dementia Care Australia, check out their webpage at http://www.dementiacareaustralia.com

 Recalling Someone Special

When people with dementia find it difficult to remember someone special or important in their lives, such as when you mention a son or daughter’s name and they cannot get a mind’s eye picture of that loved person, here is a great way to enable them to remember:

Make a good CLEAR display of photographs of people who visit the person or family and friends whom you talk about often. This can be placed on the fridge, a door, a pin board, or similar. Magnetic photo frames can be attached directly onto the fridge or a magnetic board.

People with dementia remember in pictures, just like you and I. We know from research that our long-term memory is more likely to store experiences that are unusual, colorful, humorous or full of sensory experiences. We can apply these same principles to the way we take and select photos of visitors, family or friends to help the person remember them.