Do you write life stories for elderly people to let their memory live on?

Some elderly people feel the need to leave their memoir for the next generations, but that is not our main goal. In the first place, our team at the mental health care centre in Brussels wants to raise the self-esteem of elderly people living at home who have had a physical setback or have mental problems. By helping them remember the pleasant events and achievements in their life, we hope to reinforce their identities and make them the directors of their lives again. The social contact also brings lonely people out of their isolation and helps them to reintegrate into society.

Is it sometimes difficult to bring back long-forgotten experiences?

It can be hard to remember your childhood years in your old age, but pictures often revive the memory. There are a lot of stories attached to objects as well, such as a ring your grandmother gave you or the pipe your grandfather smoked. Somebody also remembered his youth through the smell of a bakery, as he grew up in one.

Are people in the first stages of dementia also considered?

Definitely.By stimulating their senses, we can help them relive the important events of their existence. What is essential for them is to place an emphasis on their feelings instead of concrete details. We don’t ask the birth date of their child, for example, but about the emotions they experienced when they became a parent.

Which chapters make up the storylines?

The main themes are romantic relationships and friendships, their professions and difficult periods that left a lasting impression. Painful stories often come up; one lady told me how her father left when she was young and how she suffered from polio. Although we don’t give therapy, being able to talk about this troubling time certainly had a therapeutic effect on her. There are also historical events that recur as major influences, such as the Second World War and the World Expo of 1958 in Brussels. In the final chapter of the life book, the elderly people can outline their vision of their futures.

www.tinyurl.com/narratievezorg