Unlock the stories: Why Do Care Homes Need Dementia Memory Boxes
Dementia memory boxes have a vital role to play in a dementia care setting as part of a person-centred strategy.
In promoting the influence of the environment, Memory Boxes contribute to several key areas we want to address, including way-finding, reminiscence and personal interactions. They also contribute to an altogether more attractive and homely environment for people living with dementia.
The Power of Personal Stories in Care
Providing a high level of person-centred care is no easy task, and themed Memory Boxes can be very helpful in this respect. It takes time to get to know a new resident, their needs, preferences and personality. Using a thoughtfully filled Memory Box for dementia care provides a visual reference of the individual's life story that is always available - more practical and person-centred than referring to a care plan!
The personal contents of a Memory Box present a selection of items which are meaningful and memorable for a resident. This provides them with valuable support for confident wayfinding, informing the individual they’re in their own space, rather than with carers.
Thinking inside the box - another way to create POI's even when space and budget are limited
What is a Dementia Memory Box?
Personal Memory Boxes appear in a variety of guises and sizes. The primary consideration is safety, as it is with any product in this environment. So the Memory Box needs to be secure, keep its contents safe, be robust, and not have any sharp corners or edges that can cause damage on impact. Invariably, Memory Boxes are more box than contents, making the contents less visible and diminishing the general effectiveness.
The standard Memory Box illustrated is a good example of how ingenuity in design can fulfil all the safety criteria and improve the value of the Memory Box by providing maximum capacity for more contents and ensuring everything is visible and well-lit from all angles. The ‘bonus’ benefit is the visual effect of a corridor filled with interesting artefacts, as opposed to a corridor with a line of impersonal, identical wooden boxes. It’s always good to differentiate.
Creating Connections with Families, Staff & Residents
If there aren’t already enough reasons to make you consider dementia Memory Boxes for your home, there are more to come.
It’s almost as important to know and understand friends and family’s relationship with their LO, and curating the Memory Box’s contents provides an opportunity to work with them to do this. The contents may feature items and photos of friends and family, and help maintain the connections.
Furthermore, when a resident is struggling to recognise a visitor or loved one, the Memory Box provides an easy-access opportunity to say, ‘Hey Dad, do you remember this? It’s you and me when we were at….
Design Matters- Placement, Materials & Safety
As already mentioned, there are a number of design criteria the Memory Box needs to fulfil to be suitable for use in an alzheimer’s or dementia care setting.
The priorities are all safety-related, of course, so the materials should carry the appropriate fire ratings for a start. The cover should be a clear, ‘unbreakable’ material having a positive fixing to secure the cover and prevent unwanted access to the contents.
Wall-fixing must be secure, and the fascia suitable for effective cleaning with non-abrasive cleaners.
Location is key, of course, so Memory Boxes are best located adjacent to (not on) the bedroom door and positioned low enough for everyone to be able to see the contents and high enough as not to present a hazard when passing by or to wheelchair users.
The colour of the Memory Box will ideally be something neutral, as the display is all about the contents, not the box.
Supporting Memory & Wellbeing
The key value of the Memory Box is its contribution to general well-being and the support of an individual's personhood, providing reminiscence cues and dementia visual aids, reinforcing confidence in wayfinding and sharing a valuable snapshot of life history to support more meaningful interactions with family members.
Go Beyond the Box by Embedding Stories into Care Design
In the care home setting, the Memory Box can serve more than one purpose. In our work on the environment, we often pre-populate a Memory Box with themed contents relating to our Destination Point wall displays.
Our displays are always content-rich with era-specific images on a variety of relevant themes. These can be enhanced with a Memory Box filled with related artefacts/ keepsakes and located alongside the wall-art or embedded in the display for a more immersive and meaningful display reinforced with reminiscence therapy.
Get in touch with our expert team at The Care Home Designer today to get designing a memory box
