I first encountered life story work during my dad’s lifetime, except I didn’t know it was life story work back then. As a family we were given an empty wall-mountable box and asked to fill it with memories relevant to my dad so the Activity Coordinator at my dad’s care home could hang it outside his room.

Life story work in my professional life

Fast forward to 2016 and I was a consultant on MacIntyre’s Dementia Project. I’d worked with MacIntyre since 2013 after dad died in 2012. It was during the planning and production of the Wellbeing for Life Toolkit, the main learning resources that we created as part of the Dementia Project, that I first encountered ‘Told in South Yorkshire’.

At that time, and since, I have struggled to find a more comprehensive resource to encourage and support life story work. It’s accessible and friendly, a key factor in life story work because, as Told in South Yorkshire says:

“Although many people are enthusiastic about using Life Story Work, it can be difficult to get started.”

People with dementia at the heart of life story work

There are many more things I like about the approach Told in South Yorkshire takes, most notably that readers are encouraged to always work with the person who has dementia. As the pack says:

“Life Story Work should keep the person with dementia at the centre of the process.”

It was a mistake I made with my dad’s box that I never included him.

Told in South Yorkshire is also very clear that the person’s views are first and foremost when choosing what will go into life story resources, as described in the example of creating Eileen’s Life Story resources:

“Her daughter had picked photographs that she had thought Eileen would want and quite a few of them weren’t what Eileen wanted at all…. so she very much collaborated, participated in and took the lead.”

I love too that people with dementia and carers were involved in creating the pack – in my view the very best health and social care resources are always the ones where Experts by Experience have had meaningful involvement in their creation.

Told in South Yorkshire – A go-to life story resource

Told in South Yorkshire takes you through the benefits of life story work for a person living with dementia, family carers and care staff, and the qualities you need as a person supporting an individual with dementia to do life story work. You then go step-by-step through getting started.

The pack also documents key considerations for the information that may be shared during life story work, giving the example first described by Professor Dawn Brooker of the chest of drawers of memories.

A resource ahead of its time

You may think, for a resource created in 2011, that our 2025 love of technology would barely feature, but that’s not the case. The section with ‘Examples of Life Story work’ has as many ideas that involve technology as it does ideas for traditional resources like memory books, boards, boxes and collages. The example of the older men from the Yemen perfectly shows how to use the medium of film to make life story work accessible to everyone.

There are some fantastic ideas of things to include, with an example of a handwritten story and drawings from a grandson to his granddad being particularly hear-warming. The guide then wraps up with sections on the resources you’ll need and an FAQs, which tackle important topics like how life story work can support people with advanced dementia and how embracing the person’s truth is important.

Give life story work a try

In the words of Told in South Yorkshire:

“Our advice would be to ‘make a start’, ‘give it a try’ and ‘start small’ and hopefully this pack will guide you through the process.”

I second all of that. There few other therapeutic interventions I’ve discovered that support a person as well as life story work.

To conclude with the words of a family member quoted in Told in South Yorkshire:

“It was nice to recapture some of those memories … the fact that he is still the person that you married he looks slightly different, he may act differently but it’s still the person that you married so I think I needed that little jolt back as well.” 

About the author:

Beth Britton is an award-winning content creator, consultant, trainer, mentor, campaigner and speaker who is an expert in ageing, health and social care https://www.bethbritton.com.