Memory Life Books

This past week at FW I observed an OT therapy session with a low functioning client. The therapist was trying to connect with the client. However, the therapist was having a very difficult time engaging the client very well no matter what she tried. The therapist played some calming music but it was not music familiar to the client. Also the client was shouting a man's name, but the client could not communicate who the man was and the therapist did not know either.

This lead me to think about our assignment to make a "Life Book". I think a book of the client's life and favorite song might have helped the therapist make a better connection to the client. In the very least, the therapist would have known who the man was in the client's life.

Life Books are therapeutic for the client, but also provide a way for caregivers to connect with the clients. The University of Michigan did a research study on creating families creating memory books with family members experiencing chronic, life limiting illnesses. The study confirmed that clients with memory books were less stressed at the end of their life than clients that did not have memory books. Click on the title for the link to the study for more information.