A Birmingham museum has created two interactive memory sparking workshops specifically to support people with dementia to thrive.
Selly Manor Museum in Bournville is launching the workshops to coincide with Dementia Action Week, which runs from 16th – 22nd May.
One in 14 people over the age of 65 have dementia and the condition affects one in six people over 80, according to the NHS
Workshops will focus on local history and the Museum’s specially trained guides will use it to spark conversation and creativity amongst people with dementia.
Each workshop will include interactive activities and guided object handling to bring the history of either the Tudors or Bournville and its chocolate factory to life.
India Wilson, Heritage Officer at Bournville Village Trust, which manages Selly Manor Museum, said: “Dementia can make remembering recent events, names and faces difficult and can impact on a person’s ability to communicate.
“Our workshops have been specially designed to support people to gently recall memories from the past and to interact with each other and the objects we take along.
“Many participants may have learnt about the Tudors when they were at school or lived in Bournville all their lives making them ideal elements of history to spark conversations.”
The dementia friendly workshops can be delivered to community groups, at care homes or at memory cafes in the community and guides have received specialist training.
Carla Smith, Director and Lead Facilitator of Creative Leaf Arts, which held a Tudor-themed workshop for members of the Stirchley Baths Memory Café, said: “It was excellent and we could see just how much impact it had on our participants, who were all fully engaged and very chatty as a result.
“We really liked the pace of the session and how you gave people the opportunity to talk about their own memories.”
To find out more about the workshops and to book a session, please contact Selly Manor Museum on 0121 472 0199 or email sellymanor@bvt.org.uk