Reminiscing, Poetry Writing, and Remembering Boxes: Personhood-Centered Communication with Cognitively Impaired Older Adults

ABSTRACT. This article describes a method of facilitated communica-tion for extending the well-known benefits of reminiscence by recording the words of nursing home residents and creating a concrete memory re-source. Reminiscence sessions were conducted with five cognitively im-paired older adults, whose words and phrases were arranged into poetry, revealing the essence of each person. Information gained was used to construct personal Remembering Boxes filled with meaningful objects and writings. As communication tools, the poems and Remembering Boxes helped staff learn more about residents, proving useful when resi-dents were sleepless or agitated. Remembering Boxes offered residents Chris Hagens is Program Development Co-ordinator, affiliated with Shalom Vil