Guy with Alzheimer's gets a little blast from the past
21 replies, posted
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[IMG]http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/09/16/article-0-150AAF41000005DC-473_634x376.jpg[/IMG]
With its traditional local pub, quaint cafe and greengrocers, Oxo adverts on the walls and ration books on the tables, a stroll along this street is like stepping back to the 1950s.
But this is a road that is special not merely for its nostalgia.
For Memory Lane has been carefully constructed by a care home to help its residents who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s to feel more comfortable. It is even hoped it could improve their ability to recall their own pasts.
Architects studied photographs of 1950s streets to properly capture the era in the design of the shops and pub.
Then staff combed through scrap yards, charity shops and auction websites to unearth the perfect objects to fill the buildings.
They found original adverts for Oxo, Bisto and Wall’s, as well as an authentic phone box and post box.
Residents can read newspapers and magazines from the period, detailing the Queen’s Coronation, or choose (freshly made) cakes from the greengrocers, which has weighing scales inside and an old delivery bike propped up nearby.
In the White Hart pub, they will find tobacco tins, vintage beer mats and beer stools, where they can sit and sup a cold beer or tea and coffee.
Manager Christopher Taylor, 38, of Grove Care, said the company decided to build the street on land between two homes it runs, Blossom Fields and The Grove, caring for 80 residents in Winterbourne, Bristol.
He said: ‘It is really important for those with dementia who are mobile to have a destination. They can visit the pub or the post office – this makes it a walk with a purpose, which is so important.
'When they are there they can look at the memorabilia. Our staff can then start a conversation about it with them.’
Studies have shown that talking about the past benefits the memory.
Research in 2009 by Exeter University found that chatting with peers about the war years caused those with dementia to experience an average of 12 per cent boost in their ability to remember.
Professor of social psychology Alex Haslam said: ‘If you had a drug that could do that, you could make a lot of money. The point is that the drug is the group.
‘I think our sense of worth comes from the approbation of our peers – the group gives us a reason to live and a reason to engage.’
The project shares similarities with BBC show The Young Ones, in which six celebrities in their seventies and eighties were taken to a house decked out in 1970s decor.
Liz Smith, Lionel Blair, Dickie Bird, Kenneth Kendall, Sylvia Syms and the late Derek Jameson took part in the show, which explored whether reliving their heyday could allow them to feel younger.
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Source: [url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204243/Alzheimers-patients-trip-memory-lane-Care-home-recreates-1950s-street--including-pub.html?ito=feeds-newsxml[/url]
Oh, the memories. More pics in the source link.
[QUOTE=Greatie;37704808]Source: [url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204243/Alzheimers-patients-trip-memory-lane-Care-home-recreates-1950s-street--including-pub.html?ito=feeds-newsxml[/url]
Oh, the memories. More pics in the source link.[/QUOTE]
Nice idea. If it makes them feel happy using the memories they know, then why not?
Humanity slowly gets more awesome by the day.
Now they can literally take a stroll down memory lane. :v:
And it'll feel like a new experience everyday
Oh, this is in real life? I could have sworn the pic OP had looked like it was made in a game or something.. Well then, this just makes it by far more awesome, and I am glad that they made this happen, hopefully the people who have alzheimers can benefit from this in the short, or long, run.
This'd make for a good museum as well for those that weren't alive yet in the '50s.
[quote]Architects studied photographs of 1950s streets[/quote]
Wouldn't it make more sense to do the 70s/80s or something?
Alzheimer's doesn't typically set in in your 20's, it's oftentimes a lot later than that like 50+
If they were 60 during the 50's they would now be 120
Too damn cool.
[QUOTE=koeniginator;37705589]Wouldn't it make more sense to do the 70s/80s or something?
Alzheimer's doesn't typically set in in your 20's, it's oftentimes a lot later than that like 50+
If they were 60 during the 50's they would now be 120[/QUOTE]
No, the point of this treatment is to bring them back to a time before they had Alzheimer's, not to when it started.
I wonder how much you could get away with doing this sort of thing. I wonder if you could play starwars and convince those people it's real?
My uncle has alzheimers and he always broke into his own house because he forgot his keys every time.
[QUOTE=fruxodaily;37705391]And it'll feel like a new experience everyday[/QUOTE]
I laughed. I'm going to hell.
[QUOTE=TestECull;37705315]Now they can literally take a stroll down memory lane. :v:[/QUOTE]
well, some of them. that guys in a wheelchair
Awww, bless! :smile:
This would just confuse them of the times though, it doesn't help them have a sense on reality.
I wish we had something like this for the residents at my work. Every day I come in I always see them just wandering around aimlessly, some just babble incoherently. We've got one lady who just cries out, "C'mon <insert random name here>!" all of the time while trying to scoot her wheelchair into a wall.
Oh my god this is just like that one episode of Ed, Edd, and Eddy, where they tricked Rolf into thinking he was back in his homeland.
[QUOTE=Levithan;37707213]Oh my god this is just like that one episode of Ed, Edd, and Eddy, where they tricked Rolf into thinking he was back in his homeland.[/QUOTE]
I'm not the only one that thought this? Thank god.
[editline]17th September 2012[/editline]
MAGIC SNEAKER
[QUOTE=Sanjuaro;37707207]I wish we had something like this for the residents at my work. Every day I come in I always see them just wandering around aimlessly, some just babble incoherently. We've got one lady who just cries out, "C'mon <insert random name here>!" all of the time while trying to scoot her wheelchair into a wall.[/QUOTE]
Stuff like this makes me depressed every time I go into a retirement home
Excellent idea. Older events are usually more easily recalled by Alzheimer's patients. I know someone with Alzheimer's, and they will read the same newspaper every day because they don't know the difference, but will tell stories from 50-60 years ago with perfect accuracy.
So a Memory lane which'll slowly get updated as it's Alzheimer residents are from a "younger" birth year?
Neat, and kinda amazing.
[QUOTE=alexguydude;37706940]This would just confuse them of the times though, it doesn't help them have a sense on reality.[/QUOTE]
they don't have a sense on reality, that's the reality of Alzheimer's
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