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What is a memory box or basket and why should I make one? A memory basket or box is a great tool to use to enhance quality of life for your loved one or client, suffering from Alzheimer's or dementia. Before you start to create your memory box for your loved one or client you'll need to answer these questions: What gave him/her a sense of purpose? What did they do for a living? What were their hobbies, passions? These questions need to be answered so that the items placed in the memory box are not only appropriate but help stimulate meaningful memories or recollections from their life experiences. The worst thing you can do when putting a memory basket together is to put in grade school head shots of all the children or grand-children. If the Alzheimer's person can't remember names, head shot pictures can increase anxiety about not being able to name or even recognize these people. If you still want to include pictures be sure that they include the house or farm where they grew up. Seeing a picture with familiar scenery, can sometimes trigger a fond memory.. Typically, those suffering from Alzheimer's can remember the home of their youth more easily than their current surroundings. So, what would be some examples of a meaningful memory box? In meeting with one family they showed me two double wide closets filled with reams of material, as they're mother was an avid seamstress. She made many of the clothes for all 4 children, all the way through high school. Additionally, they're mother today, paced often and continually ransacked the current mail (bills came up missing) piles of mail and magazines were plentiful throughout the living room. Lastly, almost daily, she emptied out all the clothes in her dresser drawers, dumped them on the bed then shoved them back in the drawers, in total disarray. I discovered that mom was a devoted housewife and mother her entire life. Meal preparation, laundry, paying the bills and sewing were her daily routine and she always took pride in her homemaking duties and her children Mom was also passionate about sewing and enjoyed making crafts. For their mother's memory basket I suggested the following items: 1. Would the adult children be willing to sort through the mounds of material and cut out some squares of materials? They said yes and a plethora of material squares were placed in the basket. I asked them to pay attention to the feel and color of the fabrics as well. Swatches of material were placed in the basket. 2. I asked the husband to speak with his mail carrier. A second, locked mail box was attached below the normal mail box, on the post that stood at the end of the driveway. The mailman then separated important mail such as bills, bank statements, insurance and membership mail in the lower, locked mail slot and only placed junk mail, magazines, and catalogs in the regular mail box. Mom could still retrieve the daily mail, but she was now just handling junk mail and magazines. This "junk" mail could be placed in her memory basket as well. Adult children and a private duty care giver helped dad sort through the piles in the living room. If Mom complained, they gave her a stack of junk mail to sort through too. They included mom in the clean up efforts and allowed her to still have papers to sort. Slowly, they were able to confine mom's piles to the memory basket and one small pile on an end table. Old pieces were slowly discarded, when mom was sleeping or napping, so no opportunity for a confrontational situation was now available to mom. 3. I learned that dad and a daughter had taken over the laundry duties, however, they did so without including mom, whatsoever. So here's what we did to solve the daily dumping of the dresser drawers. We moved all items that were mom's essentials, to a small chest in a closet. We then took hand towels and purchased about 20 more washcloths from the dollar store and stored only the hand towels and washcloths in the dresser (the bottom drawers remained empty). The husband and private care giver would present a laundry basket of washcloths or hand towels and ask mom to please help fold them. Mom enjoyed this folding activity and she also helped to place them neatly in the dresser. Over time, a laundry basket of unfolded hand towels and washcloths would be placed on the bed or dresser. Eventually mom would take the basket and fold. Yes, there were still times when she went in and pulled out all the folded towels, but when it happened it was no big deal, as the items messed with were non-essentials. Although the towels and washcloths were not placed in her memory box, mom got a laundry basket that was her responsibility to fold, giving her a sense of purpose. RESULTS: Mom spent time sorting through the material squares. These fabric swatches somehow comforted her. One day one of her daughters stopped in to find mom caressing a fabric square. Mom proceeded to tell the story of this material and how the dress she made was for her daughter, Susan. Susan, then told mom about the special occasion she wore the dress to and for a few minutes Susan's heart soared. The memory basket was the primary receptacle for "junk" mail. Grandchildren would bring art work and their family's junk mail and ask Grandma to help them sort it. On some level, the adult children felt that this activity somehow assisted mom in knowing that she still ran the household that she was in charge, just as she was when they were growing up. Dad slowly warmed up to this activity as purposeful as it helped his wife stay put for awhile (she paced less). Previously, dad thought it was foolish to sort through old throw away mail. The private care giver tried to introduce some craft projects but this effort did not enhance "quality of life", rather it produced some frustration and anxiety and was therefore not attempted again. However, the care giver was able to re-direct when mom started to pace, by presenting the laundry basket of towels and asking for help folding them. She also engaged mom in some baking and cooking activities, with very simple and repetitive instructions. Sometimes during theses activities mom smiled. In yet another scenario, we introduced the idea of a memory box to a retired foreman. This particular gentleman was a bit bull headed and often would yell out work orders to his adult children or care givers. Again at a family meeting we asked the same three questions: What gave him a sense of purpose? What did they do for a living? What were their hobbies, passions? This time the only thing that anyone could remember is that dad loved to work. He worked with his hands and he could fix anything. His promotion at the factory was his proudest accomplishment. We decided to make dad's memory box, a tool box and the family found "kid like" tools that would look real but were safe. RESULTS: Dad equated his memory/tool box with work almost immediately. Not only would he sit on the floor (sometimes for hours) and pull tools and "fix" imaginary machinery but his appetite improved as well. The daytime care giver brought a whistle and would blow it when it was time for lunch and dad's lunch was always served in his old factory lunch box, including a thermos. This memory box gave dad a real sense of purpose and for several hours a day, he was back at work, doing a job he loved. My last example is what I like to call the shopaholic memory basket. A mother could no longer speak but she would repeat McDonald's and JC Penney over and over again, while rocking back and forth in front of the locked front door. When a professional care giver presented this case scenario, here's what we did. We talked to the family and asked permission for the care giver to stop by McDonald's and purchase a breakfast for mom, at least one day per week (the family thought two days would even be better). We purchased a JC Penney catalog and wrote "catalog shopping" as a daily activity in the Plan of Care. Everyday, mom would sit and shop and then the care giver would write down mom's order of the day. ome days the order had to be placed in an envelope and (supposedly) mailed. RESULTS: Shopping was what mom missed so we adapted her environment and memory basket to "take her shopping." Shopping gave mom sense of purpose and enjoyment. The smile on mom's face when she spotted the McDonald's bag, was all the motivation we needed to continue the bi-weekly trek to the fast food restaurant. I hope these few examples have demonstrated the power and empowerment that a memory box can give to those suffering with Alzheimer's and dementia |
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