ABSTRACT
Reminiscence is about exploring with others one's past life, going back over it, sharing important bits of it and listening to other people's memories as a stimulus. Since 1997, the European Reminiscence Network has been developing a reminiscence project in which families who are caring for a relative with dementia at home can participate in a series of reminiscence sessions with professional and volunteer support. The reminiscence project, created by the European Reminiscence Network, has been refined and developed over seventeen years. A manual of best practice from across all European Remembering Yesterday and Caring Today projects was first published by the European Reminiscence Network in 1999, and translated into six languages. Couples, namely a person with dementia and a person looking after them, such as a partner, son or daughter or sibling, work together, with both having the opportunity to reminiscence and do creative, enjoyable activities related to recalled experience.
