How virtual box of memories is helping Sunderland woman with dementia to reconnect with her past

Shooglebox – a free app which works on any device – lets users collect photos, songs, videos, website links and mementos in a virtual box and send it via email.

Its contents are seen as a powerful way to help people with dementia recall happy past experiences and also help their carers talk to them about their earlier lives and interests.

Kathryn Bedford has created a box for her Auntie Elsie, who is in a specialist dementia care home in Sunderland, to help her reconnect with some of her past through photos and videos of the places she knew growing up in the 1950s, clips from her favourite films like the Sound of Music and The King and I, and memories of her dad's pork butcher's shop in Southwick.

She said: “Shooglebox will be an amazing way for the care team to get to know my auntie.

“The onset of her dementia was rapid, so she moved into the home fairly swiftly in May.

"Unfortunately, I've never been able to visit because of lockdown so the care staff know very little about my auntie and this will really help.”The initiative was inspired by a chance conversation between Kathryn and a friend who was showing her how to use Shooglebox to make a virtual gift for someone.

She immediately thought of her Auntie Elsie isolated in her new care home in Sunderland and began filling a memory box.

Kathryn, from Leeds, FaceTimes her auntie on a regular basis and added: "Sometimes she recalls very early memories from when she was growing up.

"The more information and background the staff have about my auntie the happier I feel, as I believe it will help my auntie settle into her new surroundings by helping the staff talk about the early memories and interests.”

Dementia UK said research has shown that such reminiscence therapy can help older people with dementia and depression by focusing on positive aspects of their past.

A spokesperson said: "This is a great initiative and we hope Kathryn's story will inspire others to make a box of memories for anyone they know living with dementia."

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