I have decided to make 25 scrapbook albums (20 pages each, 500 pages in total) to be given to people with dementia who are in, or just about to go into care.  These albums will be their aide-mémoire, a “This is your Life” book.  The reason for this is that while a person with dementia is being cared for within a family, the family is able to make up for many of his or her intellectual losses by taking over the tasks the person can no longer manage.  At the same time, they can remember what that person was like before he or she developed dementia.  Once the person with dementia requires care outside the family, a practical way to help maintain their identity and individuality is to use one of these albums.  This type of album is also useful for reminiscing and conversation regardless of where the person with dementia lives.

These albums will be donated to the families, ready to be filled with photographs and memories of them and their loved ones. To keep me in line, I wil be publishing my progress right here, so scroll further down this page so that you can see what I’ve done and how far I still have to go!

Thanks for taking the time to see what I’m up to and I hope you have time to follow some of the links to find out more about this illness.

Michelle

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