Life review: treating the dyadic family unit with dementia

Abstract

The application of reminiscence with people with dementia is reviewed, and promising findings identified. This paper distinguishes life review from other, less specific, forms of reminiscence. It is carried out over several months, on a one‐to‐one basis and covers the person's entire life in a structured way, encouraging evaluation of memories and events. A life story is a tangible outcome of the life review process, and is created by the person with dementia, containing pictures and words and other memorabilia selected by the person him/herself. This paper describes early qualitative and quantitative results from a project evaluating life review work carried out jointly with the person with dementia and his caregiver, compared with life review carried out with the caregiver alone, and an untreated control group. 22 dyads have entered the study. The mood of the person with dementia (as rated by the caregiver) was significantly improved for those people with dementia participating actively in the life review, although their cognitive function decreased slightly. Caregivers participating in the life review, alone or with the person with dementia, reported significantly reduced burden and behaviour problems in the person with dementia. Two case studies illustrate how life review, with its emphasis on active listening, may enable the person to ‘move on’ from being apparently preoccupied with particular memories or concerns. Further evaluative work is required to confirm the usefulness of this promising therapeutic approach with people with dementia. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.