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Nostalgic conversations: The co-production of an intervention package for people living with dementia and their spouse

Nostalgic conversations: The co-production of an intervention package for people living with dementia and their spouse
Nostalgic conversations: The co-production of an intervention package for people living with dementia and their spouse

Objectives: Nostalgic memories are more social than other forms of autobiographical recall, often refer to atypical events, express more positive affect and reflect life as meaningful. Recalling a nostalgic (compared to ordinary) memory increases self-esteem, self-growth, meaning in life and social connectedness for people living with dementia. We set two objectives: to work with people living with dementia to develop an intervention based on nostalgia, and to assess whether couples could engage in nostalgic conversations. Method: Our research fell into three phases. Initially, we consulted with people living with dementia and with carers to identify the parameters for a nostalgic intervention. From this, we drafted a workbook that contained triggers for nostalgic conversations, which we then took back to the public contributors for refinement. Finally, we trialled the workbook over 5 weeks with six couples, each of which included a person living with dementia. We assessed pre- and post-intervention self-esteem, self-growth, meaning in life and social connectedness for participants with dementia and social connectedness for carers. We then calculated Reliable Change Index scores and established levels of clinically significant change. We also interviewed couples at the end of the intervention to explore its implementation and acceptability. Results: All six couples could identify nostalgic memories, with five couples successfully integrating the nostalgic conversations into their day-to-day lives. A sixth couple found it difficult to engage fully with the intervention, but still considered it useful. All six couples manifested a reliable change in at least one outcome, with one couple showing reliable change across three outcomes. Conclusion: The psychological benefits of nostalgia have been robustly demonstrated in laboratory-based studies. This co-production of an intervention that sets nostalgic recall into the context of a conversation has clinical potential but requires further investigation through a larger study.

Alzheimer’s disease, meaning in life, nostalgia, self-esteem, self-growth, social connectedness
1471-3012
489 - 502
Dodd, Emily
ed3620f5-2a20-42e4-894e-53807f4a6de8
Ismail, Sanda
4acced04-cc50-4a5d-8b6e-51e15ef8444f
Christopher, Gary
b0d44287-ef59-407a-a4b3-8cf73b1310db
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Cheston, Richard
fe57d85e-9c08-4d09-93a9-ea50299b62b9
Dodd, Emily
ed3620f5-2a20-42e4-894e-53807f4a6de8
Ismail, Sanda
4acced04-cc50-4a5d-8b6e-51e15ef8444f
Christopher, Gary
b0d44287-ef59-407a-a4b3-8cf73b1310db
Wildschut, Tim
4452a61d-1649-4c4a-bb1d-154ec446ff81
Sedikides, Constantine
9d45e66d-75bb-44de-87d7-21fd553812c2
Cheston, Richard
fe57d85e-9c08-4d09-93a9-ea50299b62b9

Dodd, Emily, Ismail, Sanda, Christopher, Gary, Wildschut, Tim, Sedikides, Constantine and Cheston, Richard (2021) Nostalgic conversations: The co-production of an intervention package for people living with dementia and their spouse. Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 21 (2), 489 - 502. (doi:10.1177/14713012211047350).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Objectives: Nostalgic memories are more social than other forms of autobiographical recall, often refer to atypical events, express more positive affect and reflect life as meaningful. Recalling a nostalgic (compared to ordinary) memory increases self-esteem, self-growth, meaning in life and social connectedness for people living with dementia. We set two objectives: to work with people living with dementia to develop an intervention based on nostalgia, and to assess whether couples could engage in nostalgic conversations. Method: Our research fell into three phases. Initially, we consulted with people living with dementia and with carers to identify the parameters for a nostalgic intervention. From this, we drafted a workbook that contained triggers for nostalgic conversations, which we then took back to the public contributors for refinement. Finally, we trialled the workbook over 5 weeks with six couples, each of which included a person living with dementia. We assessed pre- and post-intervention self-esteem, self-growth, meaning in life and social connectedness for participants with dementia and social connectedness for carers. We then calculated Reliable Change Index scores and established levels of clinically significant change. We also interviewed couples at the end of the intervention to explore its implementation and acceptability. Results: All six couples could identify nostalgic memories, with five couples successfully integrating the nostalgic conversations into their day-to-day lives. A sixth couple found it difficult to engage fully with the intervention, but still considered it useful. All six couples manifested a reliable change in at least one outcome, with one couple showing reliable change across three outcomes. Conclusion: The psychological benefits of nostalgia have been robustly demonstrated in laboratory-based studies. This co-production of an intervention that sets nostalgic recall into the context of a conversation has clinical potential but requires further investigation through a larger study.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 September 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 8 October 2021
Additional Information: Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Care Partnership Trust and University of the West of England. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, meaning in life, nostalgia, self-esteem, self-growth, social connectedness

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 451516
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/451516
ISSN: 1471-3012
PURE UUID: 806a7d02-2bff-4cc2-ac86-9c90e3f1549e
ORCID for Tim Wildschut: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6499-5487
ORCID for Constantine Sedikides: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4036-889X

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Date deposited: 05 Oct 2021 16:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 02:53

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Contributors

Author: Emily Dodd
Author: Sanda Ismail
Author: Gary Christopher
Author: Tim Wildschut ORCID iD
Author: Richard Cheston

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