Make reminiscence Valentine’s gift for clients. A great Valentine’s for your client is you the care manager or a caregiver, using reminiscence to gather a client’s memories.
Reminiscence isn’t new. Before the printing press, storytellers and bards were how history was recorded-
You can watch The History Channel to get a history of the world. But History also exists in a family, and you can make your elder family members oral storytellers on Valentine’s Day.
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.
Here are some tips to use if you want to capture these family tales during Valentine’s visits with older clients—a perfect time to do this.
1. First, arrive with a real Valentine’s card Just a card that can evoke old memories
2. Reminiscence is Valentine’s gift when you use empathetic listening Make all the messages you give the older person— tone, how fast you speak, how they are sitting- say, “I want to listen to you.” This in itself is a gift to an older person as few people really listen to them as they age.
3. Reminiscence is Valentine’s gift when you ask questions that prompt the story but don’t make judgments. If there are going to record the family tale, on your I phone, record it in a way that doesn’t distract or stop the older person from talking.
4. Reminiscence is the perfect Valentine’s gift when viewing old family photos as memory prompts.
5. 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.” Did you go to Valentine’s parties as when you were a kid or celebrate the day in school by exchanging valentines?” Did you have a special valentine as a teenager or young adult?”
6. If the client has dementia you can still do this with reminiscence prompts like a valentine, chocolate, some flowers, old photos, or a simple valentine decoration you bring.
7. Or contact the family, if they will visit or call, and teach them how to do reminiscence and do this each holiday they may spend with the older loved one.
8. Use technology tools to help you with this legacy building for your older client like Life Bio- or
to catch the memory on your phone.
For those adult children who are time-deprived, and can’t see Mom over the holidays, order
celebrated by them as a child.They may be able recall walking back to the first day of school , buying school supplies, or the taste of late summer tomatoes on hamburgers or ice cream at Labor Day barbecues with family.When an elderly person develops Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, the short-term memory is frequently affected .But long-term memories , like childhood Labor Day memories ,can remain as intact and as vivid as they have always been during the course of the client’s life. As a result healthcare professionals and family can use a practice called reminiscence therapy to help combat the frustration, confusion, and depression that can often accompany dementia and even bring joy to the older person.
can evoke good recall. This becomes a visual biography of the elder’s life and helps him or her remember who he or she is.Plus actually interacting or spending time and talking to and listening to 
older friends and family , who are often isolated and very lonely, can bring real joy to their lives. 
reminiscence therapy for elders with dementia. If the senior is a BBC fan, like me, the BBC even has an app called 
a family can use a practice called reminiscence therapy to help combat the frustration, confusion, and depression that can often accompany dementia and even bring joy to the older person
Easter eggs, create easter baskets, do an Easter egg hunt, serve an Easter brunch or dinner, get them involved, let them watch, allow them to help if possible, serve them ritual food or to taste it and ask when how they experienced these rituals, when they were young. If you have old albums of pictures from their childhood of them at Easter, look and the photos with them. Then listen.
Friends
and memories as you create the family tree that you would miss when they are gone.
Hanukkah. Geriatric Care Manager Julie Menack in her chapter “Long Distance Care Providers” in my book 