Many health professionals extol the benefits of reminiscence and caregiving. From conflict resolution and improved social connections to discovering the value of one's life, reminiscing helps build trust and comfort among patients, caregivers and family members. Reminiscing can engage people with dementia, provide therapeutic benefits for Alzheimer's patients, ease depression and offer comfort for hospice patients to reflect on their lives and their legacies.
Long-term caregivers often seek out ways to ease to increase quality of life, and strengthen relationships between aging adults and their caregiving children. By providing suggestions for keepsakes that will last for generations, they are able to encourage valuable family interaction and bonding. LifeDisk is one such option for families looking for the benefits of reminiscing.
As the role of caregiver shifts from aging parents to their adult children, reminiscing is a valuable way to ease the transition by encouraging self-expression and the recollection of fond memories. Asking open-ended questions encourages sharing and promotes emotional, social and spiritual wellness. The experience can involve multiple generations, as well, as grandchildren and great-grandchildren can share in projects such as scrapbooking, making family photo albums and recording life stories. In fact, LifeDisk offers a simple way to create a 60-minute personal voice recording that shares the life stories of loved ones in a CD format that will last for years.
Imagine having a treasured keepsake to pass on from generation to generation. Or perhaps you have a resident who wants to share his or her personal story. Everyone becomes a storyteller, sharing day-to-day stories of life, love, lessons learned and simple moments of celebration!
Tim Verville is the director of LifeDisk.