A person’s life represents the accumulation of a wealth of experiences which form their social and life history. Every person’s memories are unique to that individual. This booklet has been designed to collect the unique social and life history of an individual with dementia. This life history will help individualise the care of the person with dementia and maintain their identity. It will also help people caring for the individual to know them and develop strong relationships with them.
As everybody is an individual this booklet has been designed to be adapted. Space is provided in the booklet for photos and objects which are important.
The booklet may also be used to promote reminiscence with the person. It does not provide information about how to conduct reminiscence, however, a bibliography featuring books on reminiscence and other relevant subjects has been included in the appendix. Brief definitions of dementia, individualised care and reminiscence are also outlined in the appendix.
Pages have been included within the appendix to note when and how the booklet is used with the person with dementia and their reactions to its use. This information will provide other people with information about the best way to use the booklet with the person with dementia. It will also highlight areas where more information could be useful or outline if certain topics are no longer relevant.
Every person has some aspects within their social and life history (e.g. death of a loved one, experiences of war) which may stir up painful memories. Information regarding painful experiences may not be appropriate to include within the main context of the booklet if it agitates the person with dementia. However, it is still important staff and people caring for the individual are aware of these memories as it may help explain behaviour patterns. It will also make them aware of subjects which will upset the person with dementia. For this reason space has been provided within the appendix to include any of this information.
It is my hope that the use of this booklet can bring enjoyment to the individual whom it is about, their relatives and carers. Feel free to individualise it to make it as relevant as possible to the person with dementia, and enjoy yourself.
Kate Gregory,
Occupational Therapy Student
1997
Personal Life History Booklet
PDF file, 255 KB, 1997
Alzheimer's Australia SA encourages the multiple photocopying of this booklet.
Contact Us
Alzheimer's Australia SA is the peak body representing the interests of people affected by dementia in South Australia. To find out more, contact us or call the National Dementia Helpline on 1800 100 500.
created: 3 September 2007
reviewed: 3 September 2009
