![]() She added: “We run supported sessions, and the beauty of Book of You is that after the initial group work, people can continue to add to their story as they want to and share that with family, friends and caregivers.” “The benefits are far reaching, for example one man has learnt to Skype his family, while another has linked up with an old friend, having previously been very isolated,” noted Ms Veldhuizen. “It’s also opened their eyes to the benefits of technology and given them the confidence to use it. “It has improved their health and wellbeing by helping them to relive memories,” she said. “We’ve used the app with people who aren’t necessarily diagnosed with dementia but it would be fair to say they are vulnerable, between the ages of 65 and through to their 80-plus, with memory issues,” she said. Nerys Veldhuizen, older persons engagement co-ordinator for Cartrefi Conwy – a housing association with over 3,800 properties in North Wales – has been using the app with her clients for two years. “It has improved their health and wellbeing by helping them to relive memories”ĭespite being created for those with dementia, it has reached a far wider audience and had positive benefits. “We can train your staff and volunteers and license the app for organisations to use, if they are a care home, a social landlord or another care agency for older people and people with dementia’” she added. It can be an important extra string in the bow for staff who want to do something new. She said: “We know that life story work can have a real impact on improving wellbeing and reducing loneliness. The social enterprise scheme’s director, Kathy Barham, said: “Our app is really powerful and easy to use and we complement this by training staff and volunteers to help people to reminisce. Now, those behind the Book of You want to expand the service across the UK and are looking to build partnerships with organisations who support older people and people with dementia. To date, Book of You has worked with social landlords, care homes, health services and third sector agencies across the North West and North Wales. The Book of You is an app designed to help people create their life stories Those behind the idea highlighted that Book of You was a password protected site, meaning that any book created was private, but the account holder could invite others to view and contribute to it.Īpp to helps dementia patients reminisce to be rolled out across UK The app allows people to create their life story using spoken or written word, pictures, music and films – either created in it or using YouTube – making it stand out from a traditional memory book. It is a web-based app that can be accessed on a computer, tablet computer or other mobile device. Initially created as a form of reminiscence therapy, Book of You won the backing of one of the country’s leading experts in dementia – namely Professor Bob Woods from Bangor University. “Our app is really powerful and easy to use and we complement this by training staff” ![]() The Book of You is an award-winning Welsh social enterprise scheme, that aims to improve the wellbeing of people with dementia and older people generally, through digital life stories. An online application, or “app”, that was designed to help people with dementia record their life stories is being rolled out across the UK.
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