Dealing with a relative with dementia can be very disheartening. The more confused the patient gets, the more frustrated the relatives can begin to feel. The visits with the patient can become fewer and further between and become filled with anger and upset feelings. Rather than stressing about what a loved one does not remember, specialists recommend creating memory books to help with dementia care.
How to Create the Book
The memory book that you create does not have to be fancy or require a degree in scrapbooking. It can be as simple as several 5×7” pieces of paper tied together with ribbon with various pictures attached. The main goal of the book is to help your loved one remember who they are and who their family is. It is important to include pictures that span many years and include everyone in the family. If space and time allow, you can write the names, dates and places that the pictures were taken. Anything that will help your loved one remember various times of their life and their relatives. When you are not with your loved one, her caregivers can go through the book with her, helping her to read it and enjoy the pictures.
Create Memorable Visits
Your visits with your loved one should not be filled with stress or anger. When you have a memory book to thumb through together, you can help your loved one remember fond times or talk about various family members. It is a way to start a stress free conversation that includes just the two of you. You want to make the most of the life you have left with your elderly relative and memory books are a great way to do that in addition to her quality dementia care.
