Reminiscence isn’t new.
If you work with older clients, reminiscence can be a cherished gift for their holiday celebration
Before the printing press, storytellers and bards were how history was recorded-
Oral storytellers gave us the Odyssey and other valiant tales. History exists in their family, and Ulysses or Penelope might be sitting at your barbecue this coming holiday- in the form of your aging parents.
But storytelling only works if the teller remembers the lines. Family history has to be captured when the older person still remembers. So holiday events are a perfect time to tap into that font before it flickers. At the same time, you give the older person one to one attention, that they may not get often, someone interested in their past and warm memories of their childhood holidays
7 Ways to Capture That Family Ancestry On Holidays 
Here are some tips to use if they want to capture these family tales during the coming festivities with aging parents—a perfect time to do this.
1. Use empathetic listening. This means to make all the messages you are are giving the older person— tone, how fast you speak, how they are sitting- all saying, “I want to listen to them.”
2. Ask questions that prompt the story but don’t make judgments. If there are going to record the family tale, do it in a way that doesn’t distract or stop the older person from talking.
3. Start somewhere. If the elder isn’t going to tell stories on his or her own, start the story and see if they will follow along.” What did you do on Christmas day? Did you open gifts at a special time?.” What was your favorite food on the holidays” ” ( you might ask before and make that special cookie and offer it to them?
4. Music is just next to memory in the brain shown by Alive Inside So use Alexa, Spotify, to play 40’s 50’s this Christmas music
5. Simple ways to spark reminiscence on Holidays :
- Look at old photos together; perhaps from Christmas past or can be anytime. Choose ones from a period of time the person currently remembers, which could be the person as a young adult, teenager, or even a young child.
- Sing holiday songs together or play them on Alexa. Choose carols and songs the older person remembers well.
Enjoy food like a holiday cookie that is a family tradition or specialty, particularly ones that have an element of memory attached from family celebrations perhaps?- Attend a Christmas or Hannaka service where the elder enjoys the sensory experiences of the smells and the bells -the sight of the pageantry, the whiff of incense or, the sound of
a choir, quiet prayer said together or the touch of bright paper tearing from a gift.
Here are two technology tools to help you with this legacy-building for your older client or family member
7. Use Quick Voice Recorder to catch the memory on your phone
8. Use some prompts for questions to ask that will help older people reminisce
Reminiscence is part of a whole new domain in aging called quality of life or attending to the older person’s need for joy through activities that stimulate the mind. Reminiscence does that but find out more about how you can increase the quality of life of older people after the holidays and all year long
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