Dementia and wellbeing

A group of three chaplains - Susanne Methven, Erica Roberts, Penny Thatcher - who use OutoftheBox with people living with dementia and Judith Gilbert* (a retired mental health chaplain) met with me for our first OutoftheBox, Dementia and Wellbeing Members’ Chat on Zoom and here is a summary of our discussion.

Some reasons why OutoftheBox is helpful for some people living with dementia:

Open to all faiths and none The OutoftheBox Wisdom stories are inclusive - and each person can bring their own faith perspective into their response to the story. (There is also a Christian genre in OutoftheBox which can be used for worship settings).

Non - verbal - the story telling uses many non verbal ways of communicating and people can respond to the story in non verbal as well as in verbal ways.

Relational - OutoftheBox is all about an atmosphere of people relating to each other in love. People with dementia are very much in touch with how they feel.

Suitable for carers - groups of people living with dementia and their carers can play with a story together, for example in memory cafes.

Some of the adaptations to OutoftheBox that may help those living with dementia to access the stories:

Exaggerate expressions, such as facial expressions, and perhaps add extra hand gestures to help communicate the story. (If masks need to be worn then expressions using the eyes may need to be exaggerated as well as using more hand gestures).

Show objects when introducing them (eg the people) perhaps by holding them carefully in the palms of your hands and moving your hands in a circle to show them to the group.

Enlarge some of the story materials (eg the stars)

Sensory stimulation can be increased eg include things to smell and pass objects around to touch.

Repeat the story, perhaps because of interruptions or just to help with the understanding. This is possible with most of the stories because they are short.

Small groups are preferable.

OutoftheBox for carers and staff

OutoftheBox can be used in the workplace to help people to see things differently and do things differently. It has been used to help carers think about the value and the difficulties of their work and to imagine new ways of being and doing.

* Judith Gilbert wrote the chapter "Deep Talk: Finding the Story in our Life" in Chaplaincy & Spiritual Care in Mental Health Settings, Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2019. OutoftheBox has been inspired by Deep Talk.

In June 2022 I had the privilege of interviewing people using OutoftheBox with people living with dementia:

Erica Roberts is City Chaplain for older people in Southampton and an Anna chaplain. She describes her experiences of using OutoftheBox in a memory cafe.

Kristin Kemsley - an activity co-ordinator - shares how OutoftheBox is bringing wellbeing to people in a care home.

Susanne Methven is a chaplain in the US. She shares her experience of how OutoftheBox is bringing wellbeing and transformation to older people living with dementia.