A Withington mental health unit has come up with a new way to combat dementia in their patients – taking them back to the 1950s via ‘reminiscence pods’.
The pods, at the Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust’s Phoenix Assessment Unit in Withington, are pop-up rooms transformed into scenes from the 1950s including the décor, furniture and television shows from days gone by.
Experts at the unit believe that having conversations with the patients in an environment evoking their youth and childhood memories, branded reminiscence therapy, can make those memories easier to recall.
“The two pods have a really powerful and positive effect on everyone who uses them,” said Unit Manager Patricia McLaughlin.
“We see people who have perhaps been a little reserved really opening up and becoming animated because everything is so familiar and less confusing.
“Being able to have a conversation again about something familiar is also really good for the carers too and it helps strengthen the bond between individuals.
“Having a chat over a cup of tea really does help make some people feel better, and the pods are just one of the many things we do to support those who use our service.”
Patients can sit and chat with their carers, read old newspapers, magazines or catalogues or sit and watch black and white programmes from their youth, including BBC News and the Invisible Man.
They can also listen to vintages tunes on the radio while playing childhood games such as pickup sticks, catch cup, heads and tails, family bingo or the beetle game.
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