Serendipity lends a hand<\/h3>\n
As a carer, I\u2019d like to highlight what I think is one of the most important parts of a care plan: the bit that attempts to convey a little of the life history, passions, interests and preferences of the person being cared for. That way, helpers don\u2019t just see an \u2018old person\u2019; they see the individual.<\/p>\n
![\"Marj](\"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/MarjJack-300x226.jpg\")
Marj and her husband, Jack<\/p><\/div>\n
Lately, I\u2019ve been wondering how to record more of Marj\u2019s life so that family and those who support her know a bit more about her. We know some stories between us, but not all, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n
Years ago, I bought Marj a journal that, page by page, prompts her to think about and record her thoughts and experiences.\u00a0However, she either didn\u2019t get around to it or didn\u2019t want to. To be honest, I have failed to prioritise my own journaling ambitions, so I can understand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I rediscovered the journal recently<\/h3>\n
I recently found a research paper* that suggested that a daily 10-minute chat improves the quality of life for people living with chronic brain disease. This makes sense since loneliness is also reported as being detrimental to mental and physical health. However, sometimes, what to talk about can be a challenge.\u00a0It struck me that asking Marj a question a day could be a great way of engaging and reminiscing, and I could note down her thoughts on the journal pages too.<\/p>\n
While I was mulling this over, by chance I met\u00a0Roy Mo\u00ebd<\/a>\u00a0at an event organised by mutual work acquaintances. He introduced me to his company,\u00a0LifeBook. He was palpably excited, because some earlier radio interviews were generating interest in the company. Roy talked about the amazing work that LifeBook is doing, and that motivated me to get cracking on my own project.\u00a0He also offered the following advice: after asking about a particular time, ask how it felt too. This proved to be a perceptive insight.<\/p>\n The next day, as Marj and I chatted over a hot chocolate and a DIY home manicure, I asked her the first question about her life as a young girl, how she felt then and looking back now. I can tell you that things were tough for her and many others in the Potteries in the \u201930s and \u201940s. Marj is happy that those days are behind her.<\/p>\n From now on, every day that Marj is inclined towards a longer chat, I\u2019ll ask her about a facet of her life. I think we are in for some interesting conversations, all of which I will be recording.<\/p>\n When my boat comes in, I\u2019ll be commissioning LifeBook. Take a look; it\u2019s a great idea, especially for those whose whole life has not been lived and recorded on social media. A wonderful, love-filled gift.<\/p>\n – Emma Lowndes, Carer and Blogger – <\/p>\n Emma Lowndes, blogger and caregiver, shares what she thinks is one of the most important parts of a care plan: the bit that attempts to convey a little of the life history, passions, interests and preferences of the person being cared for. That way, helpers don\u2019t just see an \u2018old person\u2019; they see the individual. When she is of age she’ll commission a memoir.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Blogger and caregiver Emma Lowndes from Maud and Mum has very kindly submitted an editorial for our website; please enjoy.","_seopress_robots_index":"","content-type":"","_metasync_otto_title":"","_metasync_otto_description":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Blogger and caregiver Emma Lowndes from Maud and Mum has very kindly submitted an editorial for our website; please enjoy.","footnotes":""},"categories":[218],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-write-my-life-story"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/en-gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"cup](\"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/23559555_804211436406865_6651507110097920926_n-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Emma](\"https:\/\/www.lifebookmemoirs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/MaudPhoto.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
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\n*Prof. Clive Ballard, University of Exeter, \u2018Impact of person-centred care training and person-centred activities on quality of life, agitation, and antipsychotic use in people with dementia living in nursing homes: a cluster-randomised controlled trial.\u2019\u00a0PLOS Medicine Journal<\/em>, 6 Feb. 2018. This was a nine-month trial across care homes in south London, north London and Buckinghamshire.\u00a0Click here<\/a>\u00a0for full details<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"