12 December 2013
SPECIALISTS from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have helped put together a major new resource pack for dementia sufferers to aid the creation of vital life story work.
The 'Told in South Yorkshire Life Story Work Group', which consists of staff from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust, Darnall Dementia Group, The University of Sheffield and and a person living with dementia and family carer, launched the pack at showcasing event at St Mary's Conference Centre to share and celebrate best practice.
Michelle Wattam, a mental health nurse from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Knowing about a person's life history is fundamental to good dementia care and doing more focused work with individuals around life stories can help to preserve some important memories.
"The resource pack is fantastic and should be an enormous help to carers who might need some clear, simple information in order to get started. The showcasing event also provided some great ideas for stimulating and capturing people's memories through film, music, writing and sounds from nature. One of the exhibits was a suitcase containing items labelled with personal recollections - a simple idea which stirred up feelings and reminiscences from many.
"More than 100 people attended the event and it was great to see people come away with a lot of positive thoughts about the day and some exciting ideas for their own practice."
Jane McKeown, Senior Nurse at Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust, which manages dementia services in the city, said: "Life story is a way of working with a person to gather information about their life. This could be work, relationships, family and friends, hobbies, values and beliefs and then recording that in some way - often in a book, a film or a memory box.
"It is especially relevant for people with dementia as they may need reminding about important aspects of their life and life story work can help trigger memories. It provides a focus for conversations and can help care staff to understand the person with dementia, perhaps giving an explanation to certain behaviours, likes and dislikes."
The showcasing event was attended by care staff from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, care homes, people with dementia and family carers who took part in a range of activities including interactive stalls, a film, talks and a 'soundscape room'. The event was funded by the Foundation of Nursing Studies and the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for South Yorkshire (NIHR CLAHRC SY).
A link to download the pack is here www.toldinsouthyorkshire.co.uk/.
The Told in South Yorkshire group was recently nominated in the Ken Holt Memorial Life Story Work category at the fourth national Dementia Care Awards. The ceremony, held in November, highlighted the work taking place up and down the UK, changing the lives of people living with dementia.
