A research team based out of the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is set to begin a project focused on how reminiscence therapy can impact individuals diagnosed with dementia.  

The two-year project is entitled “Intergenerational Connections: Reminiscence and digital storytelling to improve the social and emotional well-being of older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia.”  

It will largely focus on reminiscence therapy as a part of dementia care. Reminiscence therapy involves the discussion of past activities, events, and experiences that can help individuals with dementia remember events, people, and places from their lives before their dementia diagnosis.  

UTA students will be paired with older adults with dementia. They will facilitate sessions of “therapeutic dialogue,” in which persons diagnosed talk about their childhood and memories. The students will then create digitized versions of these memoirs using a variety of storytelling modes that will be later archived in UTA libraries. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.  

For more information on the project, click here.