Reminiscence work with older people: the development of a historical reminiscence tool.

• Published in: International Journal of Older People Nursing
• Main Authors: Thorgrimsdottir, Sigrun Huld, Bjornsdottir, Kristin
• Other Authors: 1 Natl Univ Hosp Iceland, Dept Mental Hlth Gerontol Nursing, Reykjavik, Iceland Organization-Enhanced Name(s) Landspitali National University Hospital 2 Univ Iceland, Fac Nursing, Reykjavik, Iceland
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2016
• Subjects: Aldraðir; Elliglöp; PSN12; Mental Recall; Reality Therapy; Dementia/therapy; Aged; Nursing; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/607776; https://doi.org/10.1111/opn.12093

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access. (i) To explore how reminiscence workers in older people's care define their work and (ii) to describe the development of a historical reminiscence tool containing historical developments from the older person's passage through life, intended to support reminiscence work. Reminiscence work refers to the recall of past occurrences in a client's life with the intention of enhancing well-being, social skills and self-image. The design of the historical reminiscence tool was informed by the model of intervention design developed by van Meijel et al. starting with problem definition followed by the accumulation of building blocks for the intervention, the design of the intervention and, lastly, a validation of the intervention. Two studies were designed to develop the historical reminiscence tool. Study 1 was a focus group interview, conducted in 2008, aimed at generating knowledge about current practice and to develop the historical reminiscence tool. Eighteen women who identified themselves as reminiscence workers participated in three focus groups. Study 2 was a telephone survey, conducted in 2012 by the first author, serving the purpose of validation. The results provided information about the use of such a historical reminiscence tool. Participants understood reminiscence work primarily as meaningful activity, working with personal experience and honouring the individual's memories and life story. The historical reminiscence tool containing information about important historical events and everyday life in the period 1925-1955 was welcomed by the participants. They provided numerous suggestions for improvement of the draft. Reminiscence work in Iceland is of the social or meaningful activity type rather than a therapy. A historical reminiscence tool containing pertinent historical information was ...