Past and Present

Each day I work with people who have dementia. I talk with them. I ask them to communicate and converse. I ask them to remember. So many of my interactions with these people begin with observation, and more often than not they are unoccupied until I initiate contact. Once dementia gets to a certain point, the person appears to be “living in the past”, and their reality shifts away from the one in which we live. No wonder they seem disengaged, they are not living in the same realm as you and I. As their disease worsens, remembering becomes increasingly difficult. At this point, we often focus with our elders, on examining the memories still left intact. Precisely recalling life’s history is valuable, but let’s consider another perspective…
The most important piece of the puzzle may be that by talking about the past we are actually helping the person with dementia be present. They are in the moment, actively engaged in narrating their life. For a person with loss of thinking and communicating abilities, the act of interacting is more valuable than remembering accurate details of life. It is an amazing gift to provide this opportunity for a person who often lives within the confines of their own world/head. Take a moment and speak those you know who don’t remember well, who can’t converse easily, and remember that the success is in the experience not the result.