No One Else’s Words: Holding Space for Unfiltered Memory and First-Person Truth in Dementia Care
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Green Room |
Emily Bird
Facilitator
Remembering Yesterday Caring Today
Janet Costley
Facilitator
Remembering Yesterday Caring Today
Summary
This presentation shares reflections from a Remembering Yesterday Caring Today project which sat outside the approaches usual reminiscence practice of ‘working with couples’. The presentation explores deep listening and why life story work requires a commitment to dignity, autonomy, and human rights. Using case studies from the project, we will show how beginning with few personal details offers opportunities to co-create life story work that reflects the voice and lived truth of people living with Dementia - uninterrupted and unfiltered.
The presentation will look at the opportunities and limitations of a solo approach such as experiences being allowed to emerge on people’s own terms whilst also posing challenges such as lack of wider context.
We will reflect on this method as a quiet act of rights-based care - protecting voice, personhood, and memory. Attendees will gain practical insights into respectful narrative facilitation and reflect on the ethical balance between autonomy and collaborative memory-making.