Life Story Work for people with dementia
Evidence suggests Life Story Work with people with dementia helps support improved cognition and mood, communication, autobiographical memory, social interactions and reduced depression.
The Life Story Work process helps people's self-integrity and identity and can tangibly contribute to their sense of wellbeing and self-esteem. The work promotes personhood, which can help reduce depression, disorientation, fear and anxiety.
The creative output, the product, of the work can help support better care planning, aid communication and reminiscence work, enhance interaction, and contribute to outcomes connected to improved quality of life.
Life Story Work can support staff working with people with dementia through increased opportunities and focus for social interaction, and through developing and expanding emotional intelligence and understanding of the whole person.
Integrating life stories in day-to-day care can improve communication and social relationships. Insight into the person with dementia in the fuller context of their past can help explain present behaviours, offering care staff opportunities and techniques to reduce distress and deliver more person-centred care.