Reminiscence therapy

1950 Chrysler Newport Coupe woodie, a car of the type found in the Glenner Town Square "re-created 1950s town"[1] meant to help project participants "rediscover their comfort zone."

Reminiscence therapy is used to counsel and support older people, and is an intervention technique with brain-injured patients[2] and those who appear to have "Alzheimer's and other forms of cognitive disease."[1]

A 2018 AARP article[1] about a standalone demonstration project named Glenner Town Square[3] focused on those who seem to have Alzheimer's or some (other) form of dementia. Glenner's goal is described as "capture the years between 1953 and 1961[1]: p.28  so that project participants are calmly back in a time period to recollect ages 10 to 30, when "our strongest memories are formed."

Reminiscence therapy is defined by the American Psychological Association (APA) as "the use of life histories – written, oral, or both – to improve psychological well-being. The therapy is often used with older people."[4] This form of therapeutic intervention respects the life and experiences of the individual with the aim to help the patient maintain good mental health.

The majority of research on reminiscence therapy has been done with the elderly community, especially those suffering from depression, although a few studies have looked at other elderly samples.[5]

Research and implementation has been tried in several areas with diverse cultures[6] such as Japan,[6] United Kingdom,[7] USA.[8]

  1. ^ a b c d Jennifer Wolff (December 2018). "Thanks for the Memories". AARP. pp. 26–29. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  2. ^ "Emotion-Oriented Approaches". Practice guideline for the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (PDF). American Psychiatric Publishing. 2007. pp. 48–49. OCLC 181588702. S2CID 6855846.
  3. ^ "Glenner Town Square". OUR MISSION: .. innovative adult day care .. Alzheimer's and other forms of memory ...
  4. ^ VandenBos, Gary R. (2006). APA dictionary of psychology (1st ed.). Washington, DC.: American Psychological Association. ISBN 978-1-59147-380-0.
  5. ^ Webster, Jeffrey (2002). Critical Advances in Reminiscence Work: From Theory to Application. New York, NY: Springer. ISBN 9780826197832.
  6. ^ a b "Reminiscence Therapy". Alzheimer Scotland.
  7. ^ "reminiscence therapy | Evidence search | NICE". evidence.nhs.uk.
  8. ^ A. Lazar (2014). "A Systematic Review of the Use of Technology for Reminiscence Therapy". Health Education & Behavior. 41 (1 Suppl): 51S–61S. doi:10.1177/1090198114537067. PMC 4844844. PMID 25274711.