PRACTICE


All in the past


Evidence is growing that reminiscence therapy can benefi t people whose memory or cognitive abilities are failing, writes Jill Manthorpe


he death of Margaret Thatcher in April seemed to spark a national reminiscence movement with diff erent discussions of the period of her premiership, of memories of various events and of personal involvement with the times she represented. If reminiscence is simply a personal


T


recollection of the past what role can it have in social work practice? In previous decades there have been many studies of reminiscence as a therapy for people whose memory or cognitive abilities are failing. Although there was often a sense that the activity of recalling the past was of dubious value, or merely harmless, currently there is greater evidence that the activity (newly


16 SOCIALWORKMATTERS JULY13


termed a psychosocial intervention in health care settings) is eff ective in promoting wellbeing. Social workers may therefore want to


Reminiscence work equips


practitioners with the skills to address troubled and painful memories that may emerge


Touching moments in day centre


promote it as part of a package of care and support, and foster reminiscence activities among people needing care and support. There is now a greater opportunity to consider the evidence base for reminiscence and to develop skills in running groups or person-centred work with individuals. Foremost in practitioner training in this area is Reminiscence Network


Northern Ireland, a charitable organisation founded in 1998 that provides reminiscence work, resources, networking and information. Recent work embraces the opportunity to


develop skills in reminiscence work with older people with learning disabilities. This includes the benefi ts of planned and spontaneous reminiscence and life story work for people


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