Until the formation of the social enterprise 'Pictures to Share', anyone wanting to use illustrated books with people who have memory problems would have had great difficulty finding much that was suitable to use apart from children's picture books.
Pictures to Share have now just published their eleventh delightful picture book for adults called 'Family Life in Pictures'. Like their others, such as 'Pets in Pictures and 'Beside the Seaside', it aims to stimulate long term memories in people who have dementia/Alzheimer's and to create social interaction among these often fairly socially isolated adults.
There is much to enjoy here. The cover photo is very eye-catching: a proud smiling man holding new twin babies. It is good to see that the book includes images of people of various social backgrounds and several nationalities. All kinds of happy family occasions are illustrated such as a wedding, family parties and Christmastime, as well as ordinary moments of family life.
The images are an easy starting point to get people sharing their own memories and are the customary delightful 'Pictures to Share' mixture found in all their titles. It is rather nice to see some longer quotations which will be familiar to many, such as 'The Night before Christmas'. These just beg to read aloud.
Oxfordshire Library Service ran a pilot project earlier this year with these books in partnership with two local day centres. We wanted to know how best to reach the people that the books intended to help and the value of books therapy in caring for people with dementia/Alzheimer's was quickly demonstrated. Non-verbal clients responded to the books with smiles, wanting to hold them and touching the pictures. Others mentioned details about their families that staff had not known. Staff or carer sitting down and sharing a book together also proved to be a valuable way of distracting someone who was agitated and restless, leaving them smiling and calmer afterwards.
As the manager of a health and wellbeing centre commented to me, 'Who would think that a few books with pictures in would make such a difference?"
The library service now has proof of their worth and has five sets now on loan to day centres and care homes in Oxfordshire.
Mrs Anney Blake, MCLIP
Librarian, Communities & Learning Team and Reading and Lending Team,
Oxfordshire Library Service - July 2010