Reminiscence is a vital way to stimulate communication and promote confidence and self-worth in people with dementia. This practical guide is designed to give those who care for people with dementia a clear sense of how reminiscence can be used to greatly improve their quality of life. The book explores how reminiscence can contribute to person-centred dementia care and contains detailed descriptions of activities that can be used in a group setting, for one-to-one reminiscence at home or in a variety of care settings. Based on ideas developed and tested internationally over a period of ten years, the book offers imaginative approaches to reminiscence and a wealth of resources for use in a wide range of situations. The book includes advice on organising a reminiscence project and provides a useful planning tool for group sessions. Remembering Yesterday, Caring Today highlights the value of reminiscence for those with dementia and is an essential guide to good practice for family and professional carers.

?Sheds new light on complex human issues and the message is loud and clear: reminiscence and reminiscence theatre can make a profound improvement in real people's real lives.? ? from the Foreword by Glenda Jackson MP ?The vast scope of the work recounted in this book as well as the detailed guidance it provides will become an invaluable resource for anyone who wishes to mine the riches of reminiscence work and to transform the spoken word into tangible artistic forms.? ? Faith Gibson, Emeritus Professor of Social Work, University of Ulster Reminiscence Theatre is about seeing dramatic potential in real life stories. It takes verbatim memories as the basis for theatre scripts, using the experiences of older people as a source of therapeutic creativity. This book is a comprehensive guide to the nature, practice and therapeutic effects of reminiscence theatre. Drawing on examples from a range of real-life case studies, Pam Schweitzer provides practical advice on the process of taking an oral history, creating from it a written script and developing that into a dramatic production, on whatever scale. The book outlines five components of key significance that the form affords: artistic development through creativity; cultural development, by creating reminiscence theatre in multi-cultural contexts such as dual-language productions; educational development through the intergenerational sharing of memories; psycho-social development for older people by reliving and reshaping past experiences; and health care, by using reminiscence theatre as therapy for older people with dementia, for instance. This will be of great interest to social work professionals and carers of older people, arts therapypractitioners and students in these fields