House of Memories: Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage

Ward L (2024) House of Memories: Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage. Journal of Dementia Care 32(6)12-13.

Lizzie Ward describes the development of a new resource that brought the Liverpool Yemeni community together, for elders and young people to share memories and pride in their heritage.

The app’s development was supported by a group of Yemeni young people who were passionate about this project to share their cultural memories. Photographer: Robin Clewley

House of Memories is an award-winning dementia awareness programme led by National Museums Liverpool that has been running for more than 10 years. It was designed to raise community awareness of dementia through the exploration of museum and community heritage resources. Using an approach that privileges the power of personal memories, stories and cultural heritage as a complimentary social resource to established clinical interventions and practice, the House of Memories programme was co-designed and co-produced with people living with dementia, care providers and family members.

A culture-led initiative, House of Memories reaches out to under-represented communities who experience health inequalities in order to build and enable trust, respect and connections and to ensure authentic cultural representation and engagement. 

Inspiration for the Yemeni Elders Heritage app

Abdul Wase, a young person within Liverpool’s Yemeni community, discovered the My House of Memories app, and wanted to create a digital memory resource for his own family members and his wider community.

He worked with the House of Memories team and local Yemini elders to scope, design and deliver the Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage app. His idea was to share the rich heritage and elders’ memories of the Yemen as a conversation link to foster understanding and signpost to dementia resources.

“There’s a lot of pride on Merseyside, especially within the Yemeni community. The elders and the young people were very proud of the heritage that we have here”. Project delivery staff at House of Memories and member of community.

Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage brought the Liverpool Yemini community together, encouraging young people and elders to access and share their cultural memories, an intergenerational element of the app’s development that was supported by a group of Yemeni young people who were passionate about the project.

“One of the highlights of the collaboration between the museum and the young people is watching the young people within the community centres from the Yemeni heritage taking centre stage. It was also nice to see the gap being bridged between young people and the elderly community”. Project delivery staff and member of community.

Design and content

The app’s design included community and museum objects and stories supported by a bi-lingual narrative. To aid the app’s development, multiple opportunities were created to celebrate Yemini culture within the community. This included traditional food, music and dance events, inviting local people to get involved and learn more the resource. The project became a catalyst for intergenerational engagement and a positive illustration of co-creation enhancing the wellbeing, connection and social empowerment of community participants.

“The whole concept and the idea of the app, I think, is great and is amazing. [In] he first workshop where we were looking through the app I even became emotional because of the memories it brought back.” Community members.

Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage is a powerful example of a museum reaching out to connect culturally diverse yet marginalised neighbourhoods. The programme champions community participation in the co-creation of cultural and heritage resources by the House of Memories team to help meet community health needs.

“I think this project is very unique to me personally, to the Yemeni community in Liverpool as a whole, because it’s the first project of its time in the UK… The whole project itself – I’ve loved it so much when I see the elderly going on the apps and just tapping different photos and seeing different memories……. The app I believe is a saviour for many families and more about re-bonding, reconnecting with the elderly and the young people.” Community Members

The Yemeni app package is now available via the My House of Memories app package and is available in English language as well as Arabic.

Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage Webpage: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/house-of-memories/connecting-yemeni-elders-heritage

Toolkit: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/house-of-memories/toolkit

Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage Evaluation: 

https://images.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/2023-02/HoM-Yemeni-Project-Evaluation.pdf

 Connecting with Yemeni Elders Heritage Video

 Main House of Memories website: www.houseofmemories.co.uk

 My House of Memories app webpage: https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/house-of-memories/my-house-of-memories-app