Watch video House of Memories Training on YouTube

[music]

[chatter and laughter]

Cindy Iverson: Dementia is something that I think every family is touched by. One of the things that we hear from families so often is, "I don’t know what to say anymore."

[laughter]

Maren Levad: The House of Memories workshop is an amazing place for people to come and get tools like the My House of Memories app and learn skills, like how to build a memory suitcase or a memory tree and use objects to spark conversation and connection with the people they care for living with dementia.

[video narrator] Add your own memories.

Meghan Constantini: People who are living with dementia, as we learned in the training today, tend to feel really lonely and feel like they don’t have a purpose.

[laughter]

Kathleen Woo-Rippe: This House of Memories project is going to be a wonderful way to have the caregivers interact in a more meaningful way.

Ellie Madison: It’s so easy to fall into, "Do you remember this? Or do you remember that?" And that can sometimes provoke anxiety with someone who has memory issues. So, to have an app that you can point to a picture and ask a very imaginative question that doesn’t cause someone anxiety if they can’t come up with an answer right away is just going to be so useful.

[attendee] That is so fun!

Carol Kuhlman: There is so much that is just a wealth of information for those who are serving people with dementia.

[attendee] That's my mom and dad's period of time.

Yolinda Chambers: It's a program that helps us to connect with people that have this condition and helps us to know their history, their experience, because even though they're losing memory there are many things that we can do to improve their quality of life.

Levad: The Love Boat, yes.

Constantini: The part of the training that jumped out the most for me was when the trainer said to the group, "You can have a museum in your pocket" and that was just a light bulb for me, because working in senior housing, it’s not always feasible to get people on a bus and to travel to a museum.

Stephanie Tomlin: You can have fun with people with dementia, and it’s not just about making it about their cares or making sure they take their medicine or, you know, the basic daily needs. It’s more just about having quality time.

Sandra Reyes: If they have a person with this condition, life does not end. Life continues and there are many opportunities to continue to enjoy with your loved ones.

Brian Hallett: It absolutely is for everybody.

Kuhlman: Families and friends, caregivers—this is for everyone. If you know someone who’s living with dementia, you have just found an amazing, amazing tool that’s going to help their day be better, and your day be better, no matter who you are.