Fictional Times in Dementia Care

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about “reminiscence therapy” used for people with dementia. The New Yorker has added to the literature on this topic with the recent article, The Comforting Fictions of Dementia Care.

The article describes different efforts by facilities, from common rooms designed to resemble eras gone by giving residents baby dolls that simulate real babies. For those who ask routinely to go home, “many nursing homes and hospitals have installed fake bus stops. When a person asks to go home, an aide takes them to the bus stop, where they sit and wait for a bus that never comes. At some point, when they are tired, and have forgotten what they are doing there, they are persuaded to go back.” One company based in Boston used technology to simulate conversations. Known as “Simulated Presence Therapy”  this system “mak[es] a prerecorded audiotape to simulate one side of a phone conversation. A relative or someone close to the patient would put together an “asset inventory” of the patient’s cherished memories, anecdotes, and subjects of special interest; a chatty script was developed from the inventory, and a tape was recorded according to the script, with pauses every now and then to allow time for replies. When the tape was ready, the patient was given headphones to listen to it and told that they were talking to the person over the phone.”  The article notes that those with short term memory loss can listen to the tape routinely. Technology has made simulations even more realistic and interactive, down to “footage of a passing scene [giving] the impression of movements.”

The article features details of various enterprises and highlights at least one facility’s efforts. It’s definitely worth reading.

Thanks to my colleague, Professor Bauer, for sending me the link.